Bombshell ruling in Serial homicide case of freed suspect Adnan Syed

The Maryland Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s decision to reinstate the murder conviction of Adnan Syed. 

Syed’s case captured national attention a decade ago when it was the focus of the popular true crime podcast ‘Serial.’ 

He was convicted in 2000 of strangling his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee and burying her body in a shallow grave in Baltimore’s Leakin Park, and he was sentenced to a life sentence plus 40 years before he was freed in 2022. 

The Supreme Court ruling will not see Syed instantly sent back to prison, and his case will now be heard again by a lower court after the move reversed previous rulings that cleared Syed’s name two years ago. 

The Maryland Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s decision to reinstate the murder conviction of Adnan Syed 

Syed was convicted in 2000 of strangling his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee and burying her body in a shallow grave

The Supreme Court decision essentially returns the case to where it was before a judge overturned Syed’s conviction and freed him from behind bars, sending his complex legal saga to another re-trial. 

Syed was just 17 years old when he was tried and convicted of Lee’s murder, and he was tried as an adult. He has vigorously maintained his innocence ever since. 

While serving his 40-year sentence, the Maryland attorney general moved to vacate his conviction, which was ultimately overturned in 2022. 

But in 2023, the Appellate Court of Maryland reinstated the conviction, ruling that Lee’s brother Young had his rights violated in court by a lack of appropriate notice to be able to attend the hearings that freed Syed. 

As this was appealed, it moved through the courts until the Supreme Court this week upheld the latter Appellate Court ruling.  

In its 4-3 ruling this week, the Supreme Court said that ‘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.’ 

‘Mr. Lee’s rights as the crime victim’s representative were violated,’ the court said, noting that Mr. Lee was given ‘less than one business day’s notice’ before the hearing.  

Though he was 17 at the time of the murder, Syed was tried as an adult. He has perpetually maintained his innocence

Lee’s body was found in a shallow grave in Baltimore’s Leakin Park

While voting to reinstate his murder conviction, judges notably did not order any changes to Syed’s release conditions, and he will remain free as his conviction is re-heard in lower courts. 

While Syed received a wave of support when his case was chronicled on Serial, Lee’s family’s attorney David Sanford praised the move to reinstate his murder conviction after it was announced. 

‘If there is compelling evidence to support vacating the conviction of Adnan Syed, we will be the first to agree,’ he said in a statement. 

‘To date, the public has not seen evidence which would warrant overturning a murder conviction that has withstood appeals for over two decades.’