Adnan Syed’s murder conviction — which gained worldwide attention from the hit podcast “Serial” in 2014 — has taken another turn. A Maryland court has reinstated Syed’s conviction after it was previously overturned in September 2022 and Syed was released from prison.
The Appellate Court of Maryland ruled on Tuesday that a lower court had violated the right of Young Lee, the brother of the late Hae Min Lee — whom Syed was found guilty of murdering in 2000 — to have been notified of and attend a hearing on the state’s motion to vacate Syed’s conviction. The Maryland court ordered a new hearing on the motion to vacate Syed’s murder conviction in a 2-1 decision.
“[The court] has the power and obligation to remedy those violations, as long we can do so without violating Mr. Syed’s right to be free from double jeopardy,” the decision read, according to the New York Times. “We can do that, and accordingly, we vacate the circuit court’s order vacating Mr. Syed’s convictions, which results in the reinstatement of the original convictions and sentence. We remand for a new, legally compliant, and transparent hearing on the motion to vacate, where Mr. Lee is given notice of the hearing that is sufficient to allow him to attend in person, evidence supporting the motion to vacate is presented, and the court states its reasons in support of its decision.”
In September 2022, Syed was freed from prison from serving a life sentence after a Baltimore court found that prosecutors failed to turn over evidence that would have helped Syed in his trial. Syed had maintained his innocence despite being convicted of murdering his former girlfriend and classmate Hae Min Lee, whose body was found in a Baltimore park in 1999. The NPR podcast “Serial” drew massive attention to Syed’s case and cast doubt on his conviction, as did the 2019 HBO docuseries “The Case Against Adnan Syed.”
“It took over two decades for prosecutors to finally acknowledge what Adnan Syed and his loved ones have been saying since day one: he did not murder Hae Min Lee,” a statement from Syed’s attorney, Erica Suter, reads. “The appeal was not about Adnan’s innocence but about notice and mootness. The Appellate Court of Maryland has reinstated Adnan’s convictions, not because the Motion to Vacate was erroneous, but because Ms. Lee’s brother did not appear in person at the vacatur hearing. We agree with the dissenting judge that the appeal is moot and that Mr. Lee’s attendance over Zoom was sufficient.”
Suter continued, “There is no basis for re-traumatizing Adnan by returning him to the status of a convicted felon. For the time being, Adnan remains a free man. We remain optimistic that justice will be done. We intend to seek review in Maryland’s highest court, the Supreme Court of Maryland, and will continue to fight until Adnan’s convictions are fully vacated. Ensuring justice for Hae Min Lee does not require injustice for Adnan.”
