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Adnan Syed in September: free again after more than two decades
Photo: JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS
The Baltimore Attorney's Office is not pursuing a new case against Adnan Syed.
The 41-year-old was convicted more than 20 years ago on charges of murdering his ex-girlfriend.
The case became known through the crime podcast "Serial".
In September of this year, a US judge overturned the verdict in the case.
Prosecutors had 30 days to present newly substantiated allegations or to drop a new charge.
Emily Witty, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore Attorney's Office, said in an email that her agency had dropped the charges against Syed.
More details about the decision are expected to be released later today.
Syed was sentenced to life in prison in 2000 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee.
He has always maintained his innocence, but failed with a number of appeals.
Syed, who has Pakistani roots, described himself as a victim of anti-Muslim prejudice.
In the murder trial, the prosecution had portrayed Syed as a "spurned lover" who killed his ex-girlfriend after she broke up with him.
Lee's body was found in a forest in February 1999.
The 18-year-old had been strangled.
His case became known in 2014 through the podcast "Serial", in which the case was examined and Syed's guilt was questioned.
A documentary series entitled »The Case Against Adnan Syed« also ran on the US broadcaster HBO.
In a surprise move, Baltimore's chief prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, announced in September that she had sought to have Syed's conviction overturned.
The reason she gave was “new information” about two other possible suspects.
In addition, there are doubts about the accuracy of cell phone queries, which were intended to prove Syed's whereabouts on the day of the murder.
The state has "lost confidence in the accuracy of the verdict," prosecutor Becky Feldman said at a court hearing.
The judge finally ruled that overturning the verdict was "in the interests of justice and fairness".
The public prosecutor's office has now filed the case.
bbr/AP/AFP