Courtroom orders a brand new listening to for Adnan Syed in ‘Serial’ case. Here is what to know : NPR

Lower than two years after Adnan Syed was launched from jail, Maryland’s prime courtroom has ordered a redo on the very listening to that freed him.

On Friday, the Maryland Supreme Courtroom upheld an appellate courtroom’s resolution from 2023 to reinstate Syed’s conviction. That ruling was based mostly on the argument that the homicide sufferer’s household didn’t obtain satisfactory discover concerning the listening to that led to Syed’s launch.

Now, the case will head to a brand new decrease courtroom decide, who will decide the destiny of Syed’s conviction. The Maryland Supreme Courtroom mentioned Syed can stay free within the meantime.

The 43-year-old spent 23 years in jail for the homicide of his former highschool girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. His case drew nationwide consideration after being the primary focus of the Serial podcast’s first season. The episodes raised doubts about a number of the case’s proof and led to requires a brand new trial. Syed was initially going through life in jail till a Baltimore decide vacated his conviction in 2022.

Syed went on to work for Georgetown College’s Prisons and Justice Initiative. However his case is much from settled. Here is what to know.

A recap of Syed’s prison case

In 1999, Baltimore highschool pupil Hae Min Lee’s physique was found in a metropolis park, just a few weeks after she had gone lacking. Her post-mortem decided that she had been strangled to demise.

Syed, who had beforehand dated Lee, was charged along with her homicide and in 2000, he was sentenced to life in jail. On the time, he was 18 years outdated.

Syed had lengthy maintained that he was harmless however his case obtained renewed consideration in 2014 after it was chronicled within the debut season of the Serial podcast. Over the course of 12 episodes, Serial probed on the particulars in Syed’s case and uncovered flaws within the authorized system. One poignant query from the podcast was concerning the reliability of cellphone tower proof.

Syed’s legal professionals raised related considerations and in 2016, Syed was granted a brand new trial. The state appealed the ruling and his case went by varied courts. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Courtroom declined to listen to his case.

Issues took a flip in 2022 after a year-long investigation resulted in new details about two potential, different suspects. In September of that yr, Syed was launched from jail and prosecutors later determined to drop all circumstances towards him.

Why Syed’s homicide conviction received reinstated

In 2023, Lee’s household urged the Appellate Courtroom of Maryland for a redo of the listening to that gained Syed his freedom. The household argued that Lee’s brother, who lived in California, obtained about three days discover concerning the listening to and subsequently, was unable to attend in individual — violating Maryland victims’ rights, the Related Press reported on the time.

“We’re not on a campaign to have Adnan Syed put back in jail,” lawyer David Sanford, representing Lee’s household, mentioned in 2023. “That is about respecting victims and their representatives.”

The appellate courtroom dominated in favor of Lee’s household and reinstated Syed’s homicide conviction. The courtroom additionally a ordered a brand new listening to within the case. That ruling was upheld by Maryland’s highest courtroom on Friday.

“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,” Maryland’s Supreme Courtroom wrote in an opinion on Friday.

What’s subsequent

Baltimore’s state lawyer’s workplace mentioned it was reviewing the excessive courtroom’s resolution and had no additional particulars about subsequent steps ahead.

In a press release, Lee’s household’s lawyer, Sanford, applauded the courtroom for reaffirming crime victims’ rights and giving the household the possibility to be heard correctly in courtroom.

“If there is compelling evidence to support vacating the conviction of Adnan Syed, we will be the first to agree,” Sanford mentioned.

Syed’s lawyer, Erica Suter, mentioned she disagreed with the courtroom’s resolution, including that it’ll put an emotional toll on each Lee and Syed’s household.

“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,” Suter mentioned in a press release.