The Maryland Supreme Court docket on Friday dominated {that a} key listening to that led to Adnan Syed’s launch should be redone, extending a decades-long authorized battle chronicled within the hit podcast “Serial.”
The court docket agreed with a Maryland Appellate Court docket, which dominated the household of homicide sufferer Hae Min Lee ‒ Syed’s ex-girlfriend who was killed in 1999 ‒ had the precise to seem in particular person on the listening to.
The most recent ruling resets the case to earlier than the listening to that ended with Syed strolling free, giving Lee’s household the possibility to be current.
Which means Syed’s homicide conviction will stay reinstated. Even so, Syed has remained out of jail amid the authorized wrangling, and the Supreme Court docket mentioned its ruling wouldn’t change the circumstances of his launch pending future proceedings, which might in the end clear Syed’s identify.
“Although this newest ruling is a roadblock in the best way of Adnan’s exoneration, now we have religion that justice will prevail, and can work tirelessly to clear his identify as soon as and for all,” Erica Suter, Syed’s lawyer and director of the Innocence Undertaking on the College of Baltimore Legislation College, mentioned in an announcement shared with USA TODAY.
Syed was free of jail nearly two years in the past after a Baltimore choose dominated that the state had improperly withheld exculpatory proof from his protection group. Prosecutors later dropped his costs after they mentioned DNA proof prompt his innocence. Syed’s case was popularized in 2014 with the podcast “Serial,” prompting mass public advocacy campaigns on his behalf.
However in March of 2023, the Appellate Court docket of Maryland moved to reinstate his conviction, as a result of it mentioned the listening to that led to his launch violated the rights of Lee’s brother, Younger Lee. The Appellate Court docket mentioned Younger Lee was solely given lower than one enterprise day’s discover of the listening to, and that he did not have time to journey to Maryland from his dwelling in California, so he might solely seem just about.
Suter argued the distant court docket look was adequate, however on Friday Maryland’s Supreme Court docket mentioned he had the precise to be there in particular person. Suter mentioned the most recent authorized battle “was not about Adnan’s innocence,” however was as an alternative concerning the procedural points that led his exoneration.
“In an effort to treatment what they perceived to be an injustice to Mr. Syed, the prosecutor and the circuit court docket labored an injustice in opposition to Mr. Lee by failing to deal with him with dignity, respect, and sensitivity…” the Maryland Supreme Court docket wrote in its choice.
Suter mentioned Syed’s group acknowledges the struggling of the Lee household, and that reinstating Syed’s conviction doesn’t ease that struggling whereas placing a “large toll” on Syed and his household.
“After spending 23 years in jail for against the law he didn’t commit, Adnan is as soon as once more combating for his freedom,” Suter mentioned.
The Baltimore Metropolis State’s Legal professional’s workplace is reviewing the court docket’s choice, spokesperson Emily Witty informed USA TODAY.