'Adnan Syed is one of many': A look at MD defendants who have had murder convictions thrown out

BALTIMORE -- A judge's decision to throw out Adnan Syed's murder conviction remains a major victory for him and his advocates, one they say was long overdue.

"I don't know how much more egregious a wrong could be inside a criminal justice system," said friend Rabia Chaudry ahead of Monday's hearing. "Coupled with that, it means that the victim herself didn't get justice if her killer is still free."

Now, Syed waits on home monitoring for prosecutors to decide whether to ask for a new trial.

The cheers and hugs at the scene of his release at the downtown Baltimore courthouse Monday have played out before for other defendants.

In 2019, the Harlem Park Three -- Alfred Chestnut, Andrew Stewart and Ransom Watkins -- were released after serving 36 years behind bars for murder.

Like Syed, they first went to prison at age 17.

The three men said police lied and prosecutors failed to disclose evidence

"We told them the truth from the beginning, because we had nothing to worry about because we didn't do anything," Chestnut told WJZ in 2020.

Watkins told WJZ about what he had lost while behind bars. 

"While I am in prison, my father died, my grandfather died, my grandmother died, my sister died," he said. "I lost everything. And the ones I come home to, there is no connection. As much as I want that connection, I can't find that connection to them. The state did that to us."

Others who have walked to freedom include brothers Eric Simmons and Kenneth McPherson in 2019.

DNA evidence helped clear Kirk Bloodsworth. He was set free in 1993 after being on death row.

Erica Suter, Syed's defense attorney and the director the Innocence Project Clinic at the University of Baltimore School of Law, said there are other innocent people behind bars.

"Adnan Syed is one of many. This sort of thing happens on a regular basis and the public is shocked, but those of us who do the work -- assistant public defenders, people in the innocence space -- we know it happens all this time," Suter told WJZ.

In 2016, Malcolm Bryant was cleared after serving 17 years in prison. New tests revealed his DNA was not a match.

"Right now, my head is still numb," he told WJZ after his release. "I'm still trying to soak it all in and giving thanks and praise to God."

He described what it was like to be free again.

"I've never walked on the moon before, but it was like high stepping on the ground," Bryant said. "Not having shackles on and being a free man, it's amazing."

Bryant died less than a year after his release. His family won an $8 million settlement from Baltimore City.  

City prosecutors said the detective who investigated Bryant's case failed to disclose and falsified evidence. The same detective was involved in Syed's case.

"When you see how someone can spend 36 years behind bars or 18 years behind bars, and we're just OK with it? This work is incredibly important," State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby told WJZ this week when discussing her Conviction Integrity Unit, which reviews past cases for a variety of issues.

The state's attorney's website includes the following regarding the Conviction Integrity Unit: "In addition to investigating claims of actual innocence and wrongful conviction, the CIU ensures the integrity of convictions by handling a variety of collateral matters including petitions for expungement, modification motions, habeas petitions and other post-sentencing matters. The CIU also reviews all Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) requests from incarcerated individuals, which includes approximately 300 requests a year."

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