'Serial' case keeps going: An undo turns into a redo in Adnan Syed murder conviction
The Maryland Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a key hearing that led to Adnan Syed's release must be redone, extending a decades-long legal battle chronicled in the hit podcast "Serial."
The court agreed with a Maryland Appellate Court, which ruled the family of murder victim Hae Min Lee ‒ Syed's ex-girlfriend who was killed in 1999 ‒ had the right to appear in person at the hearing.
The latest ruling resets the case to before the hearing that ended with Syed walking free, giving Lee's family the chance to be present.
That means Syed's murder conviction will remain reinstated. Even so, Syed has remained out of prison amid the legal wrangling, and the Supreme Court said its ruling would not change the conditions of his release pending future proceedings, which could ultimately clear Syed's name.
"Though this latest ruling is a roadblock in the way of Adnan’s exoneration, we have faith that justice will prevail, and will work tirelessly to clear his name once and for all," Erica Suter, Syed's attorney and director of the Innocence Project at the University of Baltimore Law School, said in a statement shared with USA TODAY.
Syed was freed from prison almost two years ago after a Baltimore judge ruled that the state had improperly withheld exculpatory evidence from his defense team. Prosecutors later dropped his charges after they said DNA evidence suggested his innocence. Syed's case was popularized in 2014 with the podcast "Serial," prompting mass public advocacy campaigns on his behalf.
But in March of 2023, the Appellate Court of Maryland moved to reinstate his conviction, because it said the hearing that led to his release violated the rights of Lee's brother, Young Lee. The Appellate Court said Young Lee was only given less than one business day's notice of the hearing, and that he didn't have time to travel to Maryland from his home in California, so he could only appear virtually.
Suter argued the remote court appearance was sufficient, but on Friday Maryland's Supreme Court said he had the right to be there in person. Suter said the latest legal battle "was not about Adnan’s innocence," but was instead about the procedural issues that led his exoneration.
"In an effort to remedy what they perceived to be an injustice to Mr. Syed, the prosecutor and the circuit court worked an injustice against Mr. Lee by failing to treat him with dignity, respect, and sensitivity..." the Maryland Supreme Court wrote in its decision.
Suter said Syed's team recognizes the suffering of the Lee family, and that reinstating Syed's conviction does not ease that suffering while putting a "tremendous toll" on Syed and his family.
"After spending 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Adnan is once again fighting for his freedom," Suter said.
The Baltimore City State's Attorney's office is reviewing the court's decision, spokesperson Emily Witty told USA TODAY.