The Maryland Supreme Court on Friday reinstated Adnan Syed's murder conviction, ruling that a 2022 court hearing that released the murder suspect violated the rights of the alleged victim's family.
The 4-3 decision came nearly a year after the court heard arguments in October in the case made famous by the hit 2014 true-crime podcast “Serial.”
Saeed was convicted of murder and initially sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison in 2000 after his former high school sweetheart, Haemin Lee, was found strangled to death in an unmarked graveyard.
In September 2022, a Baltimore court overturned Mr. Syed's conviction after city prosecutors found flaws in the evidence after he had served 22 years of his prison sentence.
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Adnan Syed gets emotional as he speaks to reporters outside the Robert C. Murphy Circuit Court of Appeals building after a hearing on Feb. 2, 2023, in Annapolis, Maryland. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/The Baltimore Sun via The Associated Press, File)
In its ruling, the seven-judge panel wrote that the victim's brother, Young Lee, was not given proper notice and was not treated with “dignity, respect and consideration”, and that Lee's family has the right to participate in the trial in 2022.
“In attempting to remedy the injustice meted out to Mr. Syed, the prosecutors and the circuit court inflicted injustice on Mr. Lee,” the justices wrote in their ruling.
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The commission said Said, who was 17 at the time of his arrest and is now 43, remains free as the case continues for a new lower court judge to decide again whether the conviction can be set aside.
Mr Lee's family must be given notice of the new hearing “sufficient to allow Mr Lee a full opportunity to attend the hearing in person and to make statements if he wishes”.
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Adnan Syed was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, who was 17 at the time. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Yusuf Said)
“This is a very serious case,” said David Sanford, a lawyer representing Lee's family. Associated Press The High Court's decision “acknowledged the argument of Ms. Haemin Lee's family that victims of crime have the right to be heard in court.”
But Mr Syed's lawyer, Erica Suter, argued the state had met its obligations and asked Young Lee to participate in the hearing via video conference.
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The ruling is the latest development in Syed's long legal battle. In 2019, the court ruled 4-3 to deny his request for a new trial for his alleged murder. A lower court had ordered a new trial in 2015 on the grounds that Syed's lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez, had failed to contact alibi witnesses and mount an effective defense, according to the Associated Press.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the court's decision.
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A tribute to Haemin Lee, graduating class of 1999, from the Woodlawn High School yearbook. Lee was kidnapped and murdered in 1999 and classmate Adnan Syed was convicted of murder in 2000. (Getty Images)
Prosecutors opted to vacate Syed's sentence in 2022 after reviewing the evidence in his case under a Maryland law that targets “juvenile lifers” because Syed was under 18 when Haemin Lee's body was discovered.
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They said they used “Advanced DNA” testing Syed ruled out responsibility for Hay's murder and pointed to other suspects, including people who allegedly threatened Hay and those connected to the address where her car was later found.
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“The State no longer has confidence in the validity of the convictions,” prosecutors said at the time.
According to the Associated Press, Said has maintained his innocence and frequently expressed concern for the victims' families.
