This week, we’re talking to former Las Cruces Sun-News reporter Bethany Raja — who was Bethany Freudenthal when she worked as a public safety reporter at the Sun-News. She now works as a city hall reporter for @WYPR in Baltimore.
We’re talking about Adnan Syed, whose case first rose to prominence because of the first season of the Serial podcast. First, a little history.
Eight years after the shaky case against Adnan Syed became the center of the hit podcast "Serial," prosecutors said Tuesday that DNA evidence suggests Syed is innocent and murder charges against him have been dropped.
Syed was previously convicted in the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee and served about two decades in jail before the state's attorney's office in Baltimore asked a judge to vacate the conviction in September. At the time, the office said Syed could still be retried for Lee's death.
But the state has now dropped its case against Syed entirely.
"Today, justice is done," Marilyn Mosby, the state's attorney for the city of Baltimore, said at a Tuesday news conference.
This week, we’re honored to be joined by Bethany, who will talk about her reporting, why this case matters to her personally, and how she has covered it as a reporter.