Serial podcast’s Adnan Syed back in court on whether he should remain free
Kaelan Deese
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Months after Adnan Syed’s murder conviction in the slaying of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee was overturned, a Maryland appeals court heard arguments Thursday in an unprecedented appeal from Lee’s brother, who said he didn’t receive sufficient notice and meaningful participation in the proceedings that freed Syed.
The hearing in the Appellate Court of Maryland concluded at 10:30 a.m. EST and marked another monumental turn of events in a case that has made its way through the judicial system for more than 20 years and gained international notoriety after the case became a major focus of the Serial podcast in 2014.
Judge Stuart Berger, one of three sitting on the panel Thursday, summarized the dispute by naming two possible outcomes for the case: Either it is moot but the court addresses the merits to guide cases in the future, or it is not moot and would affect not only the rights of Syed but the rights of Young Lee, the brother who brought the appeal.
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Ultimately, Lee’s counsel told the panel that resolving the client’s dispute would mean asking the court to reinstate Syed’s conviction.
“Hae Min Lee’s family and the public deserve more, and that is what the law requires,” David Sanford, the Lee family’s lawyer, said in a statement ahead of the hearing. “At this point, the integrity of our judicial system and respect for the rule of law are at stake.”
But Syed’s lawyers raised concerns with Lee’s request on the basis that prosecutors had dropped charges against Syed after his conviction was vacated in October. His counsel said Lee’s position lacked any precedent because it posited a victim’s family member as a party in the matter.
“Victims do not prosecute charges, they do not decide which witnesses to call, and they do not cross-examine those witnesses. Giving Appellant what he wants will not just result in the re-imprisonment of Mr. Syed for a crime he did not commit, it will wreak havoc on our criminal justice system,” Syed’s lawyers wrote.
Legal experts have signaled Lee’s request to the court lacked any real precedent to make a determination about how the judges might rule.
“My guess … is that the court finds the appeal moot by might create an exception for future cases,” Colin Miller, an associate dean at the University of South Carolina School of Law, tweeted on Thursday.
It could take the appeals court anywhere between weeks and months to come back with a final decision.
Syed, 41, was 17 when he was arrested in 1999 after Hae Min Lee was killed. Officials said Lee, who Syed once dated, died by strangulation. In 2000, Syed was convicted of her murder and received life behind bars.
Years went by for Syed as he experienced unsuccessful bids to overturn his conviction, which led to the Serial podcast eventually shining a light on his case and discussing problem areas in the evidence prosecutors relied on to point back at Syed.
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Everything changed for him in September, when a circuit court judge in Baltimore vacated his conviction at the request of city prosecutors, citing problems with how the prosecutors handed over evidence to defense attorneys many years ago.
Young Lee said the overturning of Syed’s conviction felt like a “betrayal” to him and especially his mother.