Maryland’s Supreme Court reinstated Adnan Syed’s convictions and said he will remain free while his case returns to a lower court. The order restarts the process after the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office sought to vacate Syed’s conviction for the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee, who was strangled to death and buried in a clandestine grave in Baltimore. The court said the initial hearing violated her brother Young Lee’s right as a crime victim’s representative to participate, reports the Baltimore Sun. The Supreme Court justices, ruling 4 to 3, said Lee should have been given more notice of the hearing that freed Syed, been able to attend in person and been given the chance to speak about the legal issues and fairness of the state’s motion to throw out his conviction. They disagreed that Lee or his attorney had the right to call witnesses or present evidence.
The court’s ruling significantly broadens the ability of crime victims and their families to participate in hearings for criminal cases. “This is a massive expansion of the role that victims play in the legal system,” said David Jaros, a law professor at University of Baltimore. Syed’s attorney, Erica Suter, said his legal team disagreed with the court’s ruling and will keep working to exonerate him. “Adnan is innocent,” Suter said. She acknowledged the Lee family’s suffering but said reinstating Syed’s “wrongful conviction” would not give them closure. David Sanford, Lee’s attorney, said the court’s decision affirmed crime victims’ rights “to be treated with dignity, respect and sensitivity.” The decision comes nearly 11 months after Supreme Court justices questioned lawyers for Syed and Lee at oral argument Oct. 6. Syed’s legal saga gained international renown with the hit podcast, “Serial,” which debuted in 2014. The show examined Hae Min Lee’s killing as well as the prosecution of Syed, her former high school sweetheart. A jury in 2000 found Syed guilty of murder, with a judge sentencing Syed to life plus 30 years in prison.
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