ANNAPOLIS: A Maryland appeals court has reinstated the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, who was found guilty of the 1999 killing of his ex-girlfriend in a case that drew attention after ‘Serial’ podcast raised doubts about the vacation of the case against him a circuit court.
After the probe identified issues with the case, a circuit court judge last year vacated Syed’s conviction in the murder of Hae Min Lee and ordered his release. Adnan Syed had served more than 20 years in prison.
The judge left it to prosecutors to determine whether to retry him, and they dropped the case.
Maryland appellate court panel ordered fresh hearing into the issue
In a 2-1 verdict, the Maryland appellate court panel ordered a fresh hearing into the issue, saying the lower court had violated the right of the victim’s family to attend a censorious hearing in the case.
“This appellate court has the power and obligation to remedy those violations, as long we can do so without violating Syed’s right to be free from double jeopardy,” the panel said in its verdict.
It said that “Accordingly, we vacate the circuit court’s order vacating Syed’s convictions, which results in the reinstatement of the original convictions and sentence,”
The panel didn’t specifically order Adnan Syed back to prison but allowed for a two-month delay in the “mandate” of its decision to allow the parties “time to assess how to proceed.”
Adnan had maintained he was innocent and didn’t kill Hae Min Lee, who was 18 when she was strangled and buried in the Baltimore park. The podcast “Serial,” produced by Chicago radio station WBEZ, drew national attention to the case in 2014.
An attorney for Adnan Syed said he remains free, and the latest decision was not about Syed’s innocence but more about proceedings. The attorney said Syed’s team would seek a review in the Supreme Court of Maryland.
“The Maryland appellate court has reinstated Adnan Syed convictions, not because the Motion to Vacate was erroneous, but because Ms Lee’s brother didn’t appear in person at a vacatur hearing,” Erica Suter, Syed’s counsel, told Reuters.
“There is no basis for re-traumatizing Adnan Syed by returning him to the status of a convicted felon.”
Prosecutors filed a motion to vacate the conviction the previous September after conducting a yearlong investigation alongside a public defender representing Syed.
Melissa Phinn, Baltimore Circuit Court Judge, subsequently ordered Syed to be released from prison, where he was serving a life sentence.
