Advertisement

Adnan Syed murder conviction reinstated by Maryland court

A Maryland court has reinstated Adnan Syed's conviction for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999. The court said that Lee's relatives did not have sufficient warning to properly take part in the hearing that resulted in his release. File Photo by EPA-EFE/Jim Lo Scalzo
A Maryland court has reinstated Adnan Syed's conviction for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999. The court said that Lee's relatives did not have sufficient warning to properly take part in the hearing that resulted in his release. File Photo by EPA-EFE/Jim Lo Scalzo

March 28 (UPI) -- A Maryland court has reinstated Adnan Syed's conviction for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, and called for a new hearing.

Syed was serving a life sentence but was released from prison in September after the Baltimore Appellate Court vacated his conviction on the basis that prosecutors had withheld exculpatory evidence.

Advertisement

The Appellate Court of Maryland found that the Baltimore Appellate Court had vacated Syed's conviction without properly considering the rights of Min Lee's brother to be given sufficient prior notice that a hearing would take place to determine Syed's status.

"We vacate the circuit court's order vacating Mr. Syed's convictions, which results in the reinstatement of the original conditions and sentence," the court said in its ruling.

Syed was the subject of the popular true-crime podcast Serial, which called his conviction into question and resulted in renewed public scrutiny.

The lawyer representing Hae Min Lee's brother, Young Lee, requested that the court delay September's decision but the request was not granted.

In August, prosecutors said the state "no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction."

While the popularity of Serial lead to increased scrutiny, prosecutors say the reason for Syed's release rests largely with the fact that two other suspects had been identified, one of whom had threatened Lee, saying "he would make her disappear" and that he "would kill her."

Advertisement

Additionally, prosecutors said there were "significant reliability issues regarding the most critical pieces of evidence."

Prior to Syed's release, Baltimore City State Attorney Marilyn Mosby said DNA evidence indicated that he was innocent of the murder.

Latest Headlines