Maryland Supreme Court wants ‘Serial’ subject’s conviction reinstated

The podcast Serial had many online asking for authorities to reevaluate the case at its center. Now, the case is going through even more turbulence for reasons that seem very surface-level. Adnan Syed was the subject of the 2014 podcast, and while his conviction was changed, it still isn’t over for him.

Syed had originally been found guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and false imprisonment of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. He was sentenced to a life behind bars and was 17 years old at the time of the crime, back in 1999.

Currently, the Maryland Supreme Court has ruled that Syed’s conviction should be reinstated because of “procedural errors.” The court agreed that the rights of Hae Min Lee’s family were violated because her younger brother, Young Lee “received inadequate notice” of the 2022 hearing.

“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 and, in particular, by violating Mr. Lee’s rights as a crime victim’s representative to reasonable notice of the Vacatur Hearing, the right to attend the hearing in person, and the right to be heard on the merits of the Vacatur Motion,” the Maryland Supreme Court said in the 4–3 decision.

Three members of the Maryland Supreme Court issued two dissents on the ruling. Judge Michele Hotten wrote in her statement that under Maryland law, Young Lee “had no right to be heard at the vacatur hearing.” She went on to talk about how it was not the circuit court’s duty to hear from the victim’s side during these proceedings.

”The circuit court is not statutorily required to hear from a victim or victim’s representative during vacatur proceedings because those proceedings no longer concern punishing the criminal defendant; rather, those proceedings concern the very basis of the criminal defendant’s guilt — conviction,” she wrote.

Syed remains a free man

In 2022, Syed’s conviction was overturned and he was a free man after 22 years behind bars for the murder of Hae Min Lee. After the release of Serial, Syed attempted an appeal with the new evidence that the podcast series found. The Court of Appeals ruled in 2019 that Syed’s original trial, while “deficient,” did not result in Syed being “prejudiced” by that deficiency. Syed’s lawyer at the time of his original trial, Maria Cristina Gutierrez, was disbarred in 2001 after complaints from her clients.

But a new law in Maryland allowed for Syed’s case to partake in new DNA testing. The law states that offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time of their crime, who served over 20 years of their sentence, could have their sentences modified. In September of 2022, Syed’s case was vacated by Judge Melissa M. Phinn.

While the conviction is made final by the Maryland Supreme Court decision, Syed’s lawyer, Erica Suter, doesn’t think it is right. “The highest court’s decision may be final but that does not make its reasoning right,” Suter said. “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.”