2 weeks Ago By ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Adnan Syed's murder conviction still stands after Maryland's highest court Friday ordered a redo of the hearing that freed him. The court ruled the earlier proceeding violated rights of the victim's family.
Syed was convicted in 2000 of killing his high school ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, a legal saga that gained widespread attention through the hit podcast "Serial." The teen girl was found strangled to death and buried in an unmarked grave in 1999. Syed was sentenced to life in prison, plus 30 years.
Friday's 4-3 ruling upheld an appellate court decision that reinstated Syed's conviction last year. The justices said Syed, 43, who was released from prison in 2022 after a request from Baltimore prosecutors who said they found flaws in the evidence, can remain free as the case heads to a new lower court judge. The court weighed the extent to which victims can participate in hearings where a conviction could be vacated.
The majority of judges concluded Lee's brother Young Lee was not treated with "dignity, respect, and sensitivity," as required under Maryland law, as he wasn't given reasonable notice of the hearing that freed Syed..
