Sarah Koenig

The prosecutors today are not saying Adnan is innocent.

They stopped short of exonerating him.

Instead, they're saying that back in 1999, we didn't investigate this case thoroughly enough.

We relied on evidence we shouldn't have.

And we broke the rules when we prosecuted.

This wasn't an honest conviction.

According to the prosecutor's office, they didn't set out to pick apart Adnan's case, their own case, mind you.

They say it just kind of crumbled once they took a hard look.

I know.

If you've heard season one of Serial, you know how I got there.

Here's how they got there.

Almost a year ago, a new law took effect in Maryland, the Juvenile Restoration Act.

One of the things the law says is that if you've served at least 20 years in prison for a crime you committed when you were a juvenile, you can ask the court to reduce your sentence, maybe even let you out.

So the day after this new law comes into effect, on October 2nd, 2021, Adnan's current attorney, Erica Souter, delivers his case over to the Baltimore City State's attorney's office for them to look at.

Because, if you remember, Adnan was only 17 when he was arrested for killing Hayman Lee, his classmate and former girlfriend.

This request goes to Becky Feldman, chief of the sentencing review unit for the prosecutor's office.

One of the factors she has to weigh in deciding whether to support a sentence reduction under this new law is the facts of the crime.

So Becky Feldman starts reading.

And pretty soon, she's bothered.

Something isn't right with the case.