The Maryland Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the 2022 court hearing that freed Adnan Syed from prison violated the legal rights of the victim’s family and must be redone, reinstating Syed’s conviction.
Syed’s ongoing legal battle was popularized by the hit podcast “Serial” more than a decade after he was convicted of killing his high school ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, and sentenced to life in prison in 2000.
The 4-3 ruling comes nearly a year after the court heard arguments in Syed’s case, which has had legal twists since the 1999 killing, The Associated Press reported.
In 2022, a Baltimore judge overturned Syed’s conviction and prosecutors dropped the charges against him. He was released from prison, but months later Maryland’s appellate court ordered that the hearing that released Syed be redone.
The state’s Supreme Court said Friday that prosecutors and a lower court “worked an injustice” against Lee’s brother, Young Lee, in an effort to remedy what was perceived as an injustice to Syed, the AP reported.
Lee and his family had filed an appeal of the overturning of Syed’s conviction shortly after it happened, saying they had been robbed of the chance to have answers about what happened since they did not receive notice the charges would be dropped.
The justices said Young Lee was not treated with “dignity, respect, and sensitivity” because he was not given reasonable notice that Syed would be headed to the 2022 hearing and eventually freed.
The court said Syed’s convictions should be reinstated and the case should be brought to the circuit court for “further proceedings” that will go “before a different circuit court judge.”
Syed, who is now 43, has maintained his innocence.
