Lower than two years after Adnan Syed was launched from jail, Maryland’s prime court docket has ordered a redo on the very listening to that freed him.
On Friday, the Maryland Supreme Court docket upheld an appellate court docket’s resolution from 2023 to reinstate Syed’s conviction. That ruling was primarily based on the argument that the homicide sufferer’s household didn’t obtain sufficient discover in regards to the listening to that led to Syed’s launch.
Now, the case will head to a brand new decrease court docket decide, who will decide the destiny of Syed’s conviction. The Maryland Supreme Court docket stated Syed can stay free within the meantime.
The 43-year-old spent 23 years in jail for the homicide of his former highschool girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. His case drew nationwide consideration after being the primary focus of the Serial podcast’s first season. The episodes raised doubts about a few of the case’s proof and led to requires a brand new trial. Syed was initially going through life in jail till a Baltimore decide vacated his conviction in 2022.
Syed went on to work for Georgetown College’s Prisons and Justice Initiative. However his case is way from settled. Here is what to know.
A recap of Syed’s prison case
In 1999, Baltimore highschool scholar Hae Min Lee’s physique was found in a metropolis park, just a few weeks after she had gone lacking. Her post-mortem decided that she had been strangled to demise.
Syed, who had beforehand dated Lee, was charged together with her homicide and in 2000, he was sentenced to life in jail. On the time, he was 18 years previous.
Syed had lengthy maintained that he was harmless however his case acquired renewed consideration in 2014 after it was chronicled within the debut season of the Serial podcast. Over the course of 12 episodes, Serial probed on the particulars in Syed’s case and uncovered flaws within the authorized system. One poignant query from the podcast was in regards to the reliability of cellphone tower proof.
Syed’s attorneys raised comparable issues and in 2016, Syed was granted a brand new trial. The state appealed the ruling and his case went by means of numerous courts. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court docket declined to listen to his case.
Issues took a flip in 2022 after a year-long investigation resulted in new details about two attainable, various suspects. In September of that 12 months, Syed was launched from jail and prosecutors later determined to drop all instances in opposition to him.
Why Syed’s homicide conviction acquired reinstated
In 2023, Lee’s household urged the Appellate Court docket of Maryland for a redo of the listening to that received Syed his freedom. The household argued that Lee’s brother, who lived in California, acquired about three days discover in regards to the listening to and subsequently, was unable to attend in particular person — violating Maryland victims’ rights, the Related Press reported on the time.
“We’re not on a marketing campaign to have Adnan Syed put again in jail,” legal professional David Sanford, representing Lee’s household, stated in 2023. “That is about respecting victims and their representatives.”
The appellate court docket dominated in favor of Lee’s household and reinstated Syed’s homicide conviction. The court docket additionally a ordered a brand new listening to within the case. That ruling was upheld by Maryland’s highest court docket on Friday.
“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,” Maryland’s Supreme Court docket wrote in an opinion on Friday.
What’s subsequent
Baltimore’s state legal professional’s workplace stated it was reviewing the excessive court docket’s resolution and had no additional particulars about subsequent steps ahead.
In a press release, Lee’s household’s legal professional, Sanford, applauded the court docket for reaffirming crime victims’ rights and giving the household the prospect to be heard correctly in court docket.
“If there may be compelling proof to assist vacating the conviction of Adnan Syed, we would be the first to agree,” Sanford stated.
Syed’s legal professional, Erica Suter, stated she disagreed with the court docket’s resolution, including that it’s going to put an emotional toll on each Lee and Syed’s household.
“Although this newest ruling is a roadblock in the way in which of Adnan’s exoneration, we have now religion that justice will prevail, and can work tirelessly to clear his title as soon as and for all,” Suter stated in a press release.
Copyright 2024 NPR