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A Maryland appeals court on Tuesday reinstated the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, who was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend in 1999 in a case that gained attention after a podcast. Serial cast doubt on his guilt.
After an investigation found problems with the case, a circuit court judge last year vacated Syed’s conviction for Hae Min Lee’s murder and ordered his release. He has spent more than 20 years in prison.
The judge left prosecutors to decide whether to retry and decided to dismiss the case.
On Tuesday, a Maryland appeals court panel, in a 2-1 decision, ordered a new hearing in the case, saying the lower court had violated the right of the victim’s family to attend a critical hearing in the case.
The court ruled that giving his brother, Young Lee, just one business day before the hearing was “insufficient time to allow Mr. Lee, who lives in California, to attend the hearing in person,” and required him to attend the hearing remotely. .
The family’s lawyers argued that the Lees spent decades believing justice had been served, only to be treated as an afterthought when prosecutors decided the case was flawed from the start. Courts of appeals generally agree.
“This court has the power and duty to address these violations, as long as we can do so without violating Mr. Syed’s right to be free from double jeopardy,” the panel said in its ruling.
“Accordingly, we vacate the circuit court’s order vacating Mr. Syed’s conviction, which resulted in the restoration of the original conviction and sentence,” he said.
Syed was not ordered to return to prison
The panel did not order Syed back to prison, but allowed a two-month delay in the “mandate” of its decision to allow the parties “time to assess how to proceed.”
Syed has maintained his innocence and did not kill Hae Min Lee, who was 18 when he was strangled and buried in a Baltimore park. Podcast Serial produced by Chicago public radio station WBEZ, drew international attention to the case in 2014.
Adnan Syed, who was convicted in 2000 of killing his ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Hae Min Lee, was released on Monday in Baltimore. The case gained a lot of attention in 2014 when the debut season of the podcast Serial focused on Lee’s murder and cast doubt on some of the evidence used by prosecutors.
Syed’s lawyers say he remains free and the latest ruling is not about Syed’s innocence but more about due process. The attorney said Syed’s team will seek review in the Maryland Supreme Court.
“The Maryland Court of Appeals has reinstated Adnan’s conviction, not because the Motion to Vacate was wrong, but because Ms. Lee’s brother did not appear at the vacatur hearing,” Erica Suter, Syed’s counsel, told Reuters.
“There is no basis to re-traumatize Adnan by returning him to criminal status.”
Prosecutors filed a motion last September to vacate the charge after conducting a year-long investigation along with the public defender representing Syed.
Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn later ordered Syed released from prison, where he is serving a life sentence.
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