Maryland Supreme Court upholds decision to reinstate Adnan Syed murder conviction
Adnan Syed, center, leaves a Baltimore courthouse on Sept. 19, 2022. (Photo by Brian Witte/The Associated Press)
The Maryland Supreme Court on Friday upheld an appellate court’s decision to reinstate the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, a blow to the “Serial” podcast subject but one that probably does not conclude his legal fight.
In a lengthy majority opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors and a lower-court judge had “worked an injustice” in an earlier hearing in the case by not giving proper notice to the victim’s brother as prosecutors were moving to vacate Syed’s conviction in 2022. The brother, who lives in California, was informed of the hearing three days before it occurred and spoke by Zoom after a circuit court judge rejected his request to postpone it until he could fly to Baltimore.
The majority ruling said Syed’s convictions should be reinstated and the case sent back to the circuit court for a new hearing on whether the case should be thrown out. It marks the latest twist in a long and closely watched legal drama that has surrounded Syed since his murder conviction in 2000 over the death of 18-year-old Hae Min Lee in Baltimore. Three of the seven justices dissented.
Although the Maryland law allowing prosecutors to seek to vacate a conviction does not specifically grant the victim a right to speak at a hearing on such a motion, the Supreme Court concluded “that a crime victim (or victim’s representative) has the right to be heard at a hearing on a motion to vacate.” The court cited a more general victim’s rights statute, which provides a right for victims to be heard where the “alteration of a sentence” is considered, as well as Maryland’s Declaration of Rights, which mandates a victim’s right to be heard at a criminal justice proceeding.
The 4-3 ruling was written by Justice Jonathan Biran, joined by justices Angela Eaves, Steven B. Gould and Shirley M. Watts. Justices Michele D. Hotten and Brynja M. Booth both wrote dissents, joined by Justice Lynne A. Battaglia.
Syed was freed in 2022, after Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn found deficiencies in how prosecutors had turned over evidence to defense attorneys decades ago. By then, the case was nationally known, having been popularized years earlier by the “Serial” podcast.
But Lee’s family appealed the move, and in March 2023, an appellate court panel decided their rights had been violated because of how Hae Min Lee’s brother was treated. The court reinstated Syed’s conviction.
Both Syed and the Lee family then asked the Maryland Supreme Court to take up the case.
The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Syed initially but later moved to drop the case, said in a statement: “The decision is currently under review by our office and we have no further comment at this time.”
