Adnan Syed Murder Conviction Overturned, ‘Serial’ to Release New Episode on Case

New Zealand’s Supreme Court on Friday took the unusual step of overturning a man’s convictions even though he died three years ago. The court found there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice after Peter Ellis was convicted of sexually abusing children at the daycare center where he worked as a teacher more than 30 years ago. Usually appeals end once a complainant dies.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify has appointed new managing directors for its Gimlet and Parcast podcast studios — Nicole Beemsterboer and Liliana Kim, respectively — coming amid the company’s cancellation of 11 original podcasts from the two divisions. Spotify elevated Beemsterboer (above left), a former longtime NPR exec who joined Spotify this year, to the role of Gimlet’s managing director. She takes over for Lydia Polgreen, who left Spotify this spring to rejoin the New York Times as an opinion columnist. Prior to joining as Gimlet’s head of news and knowledge in March, Beemsterboer spent more than 15 years at NPR as a producer where she led the creation and reorganization of the public media org’s first longform podcast unit, the Enterprise Storytelling Unit. At NPR, Beemsterboer worked on shows including “Embedded,” “Invisibilia” and “White Lies.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Bethenny Frankel says she’s had enough of scammers on TikTok using her voice, image or content to sell counterfeit products. The entrepreneur and star of “The Real Housewives of New York” filed a federal lawsuit against ByteDance’s TikTok, the hugely popular short-form video app, alleging that TikTok has ignored her requests to remove unauthorized content that misappropriates her likeness. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, demands unspecified monetary damages and a permanent injunction barring TikTok from misusing the “personas, voices, content and/or likenesses” of Frankel and other potential members of the class. “Despite demands on TikTok to remove and police this corrupt conduct, TikTok has ignored such demands, and even taken countervailing positions,” Frankel’s lawsuit says. “Aside from not being compensated, the reputation and brand of Ms. Frankel and Class Members are being damaged and tarnished through unauthorized associations with counterfeit goods and other products that they do not support.”

Patti Smith has announced a new book that was inspired by her official Instagram account, A Book Of Days.The book will comprise more than 365 photographs, capturing Smith’s “life on and off the road” over the course of one year. It’s due for release on November 15 via Penguin Random House (pre-order here).Smith, who penned the introduction for A Book Of Days, is set to embark on an accompanying 12-date book tour.

EXCLUSIVE: Fox Soul, the Black community’s premiere free streaming platform, announced today its new and returning shows coming this fall. In addition to the entertainment platform’s current line-up—talk, celebrity news, reality, faith, and informational—Fox Soul is expanding its content to include music,  sports and finance programming.

While Noah Baumbach‘s latest, “White Noise,” already had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, it won’t reach audiences until later this year. But the build-up to the upcoming film commences today with the release of LCD Soundsystem‘s new single “new body rhumba,” the band’s first new material in five years.

Arctic Monkeys are set to release a new single called ‘Body Paint’ today (September 29).The song will serve as the second preview of the band’s seventh studio album, ‘The Car’, which comes out on October 21 via Domino (pre-order here). Lead track ‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’ arrived last month.Alex Turner and co.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Marcus Mabry, a six-year veteran of CNN, has been promoted to SVP of digital editorial and programming at the news outlet. In the role, Mabry will lead CNN’s digital global programming, features and visuals teams, including Opinion, CNN Style and CNN Travel. He will report to CNN’s chief digital officer — a role that has remained vacant after Andrew Morse exited the company earlier this year, following the shutdown of the CNN+ subscription streaming service. Mabry comes aboard amid other high-level exits from CNN Digital, the merger of Discovery and WarnerMedia to form Warner Bros. Discovery. Those include Courtney Coupe, most recently SVP of content strategy and operations for CNN Digital, who exited to join LinkedIn, and CNN Digital editor in chief Meredith Artley.

How far will you go to get your treasure? 

HBO Documentary Films is in production on a follow-up episode to the critically acclaimed, four-part docuseries The Case Against Adnan Syed. Directed by Amy Berg, the episode will feature exclusive access to Syed leading up to and following his release from prison earlier this week, after 23 years behind bars. The new episode will debut in 2023.

Adnan Syed‘s criminal case has been an ongoing topic of discussion since the “Serial” podcast generated new interest in his conviction.

https://t.co/0O60tPrtxS“Adnan’s case was a mess — is a mess. That’s pretty much where we were when we stopped reporting in 2014,” Koenig said.

#WeFreedAdnan pic.twitter.com/CAr1DDuzB7"I arise full of joy," Rabia captioned the image. She added the hashtag, "We Freed Adnan."Another of Adnan's attorneys also shared a snap of him enjoying his newfound freedom with his mother, Shamim SyedWelcome home Adnan. pic.twitter.com/x2oG6VKBCI"Welcome home Adnan," attorney Erica J.

In a new 17-minute episode of Serial updating the latest developments in the murder case that rocketed the podcast to international success, host and exec producer Sarah Koenig says she believes “the chances of the state ever trying to prosecutor Adnan [Syed] again are remote at best.”

 podcast released Tuesday, a day after Adnan Syed walked out of court following the vacating of his murder conviction, host Sarah Koenig noted that most or all of the evidence cited in prosecutors' motion to overturn the conviction was available since 1999.«Yesterday, there was a lot of talk about fairness, but most of what the state put in that motion to vacate, all the actual evidence, was either known or knowable to cops and prosecutors back in 1999,» Koenig said in concluding the new episode. «So even on a day when the government publicly recognizes its own mistakes, it's hard to feel cheered about a triumph of fairness.

Ethan Shanfeld Adnan Syed has been released from prison after serving 23 years behind bars for the murder of Hae Min Lee, after a Baltimore judge overturned the case. As his story continues, so does true crime podcast “Serial,” which popularized the case and made Syed a household name in its record-setting first season, which investigated the murder. Returning to the mic on Tuesday morning with “Serial’s” first new episode since 2018 was host Sarah Koenig, who was at the Baltimore City Circuit Court when Syed was released Monday. Prosecutors were given 30 days to decide whether to move for a new trial or drop the case against Syed, who is now 41. Here are the main takeaways from the brand new episode of “Serial”:

The case of Adnan Syed, whom you may know as the subject of podcast Serial‘s 2014 season, has taken a huge turn.

Adnan Syed is a free man!

Adnan Syed, the subject of the hit podcast , has been released from prison after spending 23 years behind bars. On Monday, Baltimore City Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn overturned Syed's conviction «in the interest of justice,» granting him a new trial. Syed’s shackles were removed, and the judge ordered Syed to be released under home detention while the investigation continues into the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee.Under Maryland state law, prosecutors will now have 30 days to decide whether to drop the charges against Syed or to retry the case.The move came after prosecutors made a request for his release Wednesday, saying that «the state no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction.» After a new, almost year-long investigation, prosecutors said they had doubts about the validity of cell phone tower data presented in the trial, and uncovered new information about the possible involvement of two alternate unnamed suspects.Syed was convicted in 2000 of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and imprisonment of Lee, and was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.

UPDATE, with video Adnan Syed, whose prosecution in the 1999 killing of his high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee was examined in minute detail in the massively popular 2014 season of the hit podcast Serial, will be released from prison after 23 years, with a Maryland judge today overturning his murder conviction.