Adnan Syed will not serve more jail time in Serial podcast murder case
Adnan Syed, whose criminal conviction was made famous in the hit true-crime podcast Serial, will not have to serve any additional jail time after being resentenced in the murder of his ex-girlfriend.
A Baltimore judge ruled that Syed “is not a danger to the public”, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News, and that “the interests of justice will be served better by a reduced sentence”.
Syed was convicted in the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee and sentenced to life in prison.
His case spawned the Serial podcast, which questioned key evidence in the case and helped lead to his resentencing.
Syed’s conviction in the murder case still stands. His resentencing was possible under a law that allows for sentence reductions for people convicted as minors and have spent more than 20 years in prison.
Baltimore City Circuit Judge Jennifer Schiffer made the ruling in court on Tuesday.
Syed and Min Lee were classmates in high school in Maryland when Lee disappeared in January 1999. Her body was found in a forest three weeks later.
Syed, then 17, was found guilty of first degree murder in February 2000, and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors at the time alleged Syed carried out the crime after becoming jealous of Lee’s new relationship after the two broke up.
In 2014, Syed’s case gained national attention through the true-crime podcast ‘Serial’, which was listened to by millions of people.
The podcast raised questions about the evidence provided by prosecutors and witnesses that appeared at his trial, and it explored the effectiveness of Syed’s attorney.
Fans of the podcast have donated more than $80,000 to Syed’s legal fund, according to CBS News.
Syed was cleared of all charges in 2022 after prosecutors said he had been wrongfully convicted.
But his conviction was reinstated a year later in 2023 after an appeals court found that the lower court had failed to give the victim’s brother sufficient notice of the hearing that freed Syed.
Judge Schiffer’s ruling on Tuesday allows for Syed to remain free. Now 43, he has been out of prison since 2022.
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A Baltimore judge issued her written decision on Adnan Syed’s request to reduce his sentence to time served.
The judge ruled that Syed will not serve more time for his conviction. His sentence was reduced to time served.
| Read: Judge issues decision to reduce Adnan Syed’s sentence
At a Feb. 26 court hearing, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Schiffer heard from both prosecutors and Syed’s defense attorneys, who said he doesn’t pose a risk to public safety. Schiffer also heard from the victim’s family, who urged her to uphold Syed’s sentence.
The judge’s court ruling stated it would be “unproductive and unfair” for Syed to return to prison, which is partially why they granted him relief. His sentence was reduced taking into account the decades he already served.
Syed was initially sentenced to life in prison, but was given a reduced sentence after 23 years in prison.
“I think this is a really significant turn, but part of what’s interesting about this case is the reason he is out is because there (was a) petition under the Juvenile Restoration Act,” said David Jaros, a professor for the Baltimore School of Law.
Rabia Chaudry, a family friend of Syed, said if Syed doesn’t qualify for the Juvenile Restoration Act, no one does.
Chaudry said she would like to sit with the victim, Hae Min Lee’s family to discuss what they’ve uncovered since the homicide.
“What I wouldn’t do to sit down with the Lee gamily and go through everything that we have uncovered in the last 26 years to show them that the person who murdered their daughter, their sister, is still out there and that the state failed them,” Chaudry told 11 News.
Assistant public defender and counsel for Syed Erica Suter released a statement after the ruling, saying:
State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, in a statement, said it is a just outcome, saying:
In a statement, David Sanford, the victim’s family’s attorney, said:
In December 2024, Syed’s attorneys filed a motion asking for his sentence to be reduced under Maryland’s relatively new Juvenile Restoration Act, which allows people serving long sentences for crimes they committed as minors to seek release after 20 years behind bars.
“The Juvenile Restoration Act is a huge step forward for recognizing that people may do very terrible things when they’re young, and that doesn’t mean we need to throw away the key for the rest of their lives,” Jaros said.
Syed was 17 when he was convicted in connection with the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee. He spent almost 24 years in prison before the Baltimore City Circuit Court granted a motion to vacate that conviction in 2022.
Syed, now 43, was released from prison in September 2022 after Baltimore prosecutors uncovered problems with the case and asked a judge to overturn his murder conviction in the 1999 slaying of his high school ex-girlfriend, who was found strangled to death and buried in a makeshift grave.
But challenges from Lee’s family led to his conviction being reinstated by the Maryland Supreme Court for a procedural reason — so that the victim’s family could get proper notice of the hearing that freed him from prison.
Syed’s lawyers argued he is not a danger to the public, he is low-risk for recidivism and he has strong ties to family, faith, friends and his full-time job at Georgetown University’s Prisons and Justice Initiative. He has been caring for aging relatives, according to court filings. His father died in October.
The judge heard from Syed himself, who addressed the court, saying, in part: “I’m just going to keep my head down and focus on the things that are important: family, a job. I’ve never done an interview or any of that other stuff. I’m not on social media. I don’t do any of that stuff in large part because I don’t want to cause them anymore pain. I don’t want them to see me and to be upset and make them upset. So, I just keep my head down and I try to do the best I can, that’s what I’ve always tried to do, your honor.”
The judge also heard from six character witnesses who described Syed as having an even temper, strong communication skills, loving relationships and an impressive ability to remain hopeful during 23 years behind bars.
Eric Simmons, an exoneree who was incarcerated with Syed for many years, said he demonstrated a level of humanity and compassion from the very beginning of his prison term.
“In a place that is referred to as the belly of the beast, Syed showed people, including myself, that you don’t have to act like an animal even though you’re incarcerated,” he said.
Syed’s lawyer, Erica Suter, spoke outside court after the hearing ended, saying: “Adnan’s fight for justice continues, but we are relieved that he will remain free. We are hopeful that the court will see what we see, that he is a walking demonstration of a positive and contributing member of society.
“Every witness who testified on his behalf, testified consistently. The expert who testified on his behalf testified consistently. The state agrees that Adnan is worthy of a sentence reduction, the original sentencing judge agrees that Adnan is worthy of a sentence reduction, and we are hopeful that this court will as well.”
The court then heard from the victim’s family and their attorney, who urged the judge to honor Syed’s conviction and uphold his sentence. The family, which had three seats at the trial table, said the recent proceedings — starting in 2022 when they were shocked to learn of Syed’s abrupt release — have ripped open old wounds.
Lee’s younger brother, Young Lee, said he endured the pain of sitting through Syed’s original trial. When it was finally over, he said, the guilty verdict meant his sister “could finally rest in peace.” Learning of the state’s efforts to throw out Syed’s conviction left him in shock, wondering if prosecutors were still on the family’s side, he said through tears.
When he was finished speaking, the judge offered an apology: “I am so sorry for what you’ve been through, and all I can say is that your words are not lost on me, and my heart goes out to you,” she told him.
In a videotaped statement speaking in Korean, Lee’s mother questioned the integrity of the American criminal justice system that she believed had solved her daughter’s murder 25 years ago. She said she took comfort in Syed’s conviction even as she struggled to maintain her will to live.
“Those who commit a crime should pay the price,” she said.
The family’s lawyer citing seven different reasons to send Syed back to prison, including, in part, overwhelming trial evidence, “cultural hysteria,” fame-seeking behavior and the fact that Syed has always maintained his innocence, which means he has failed to accept responsibility for his actions, the attorney said.
The Feb. 26 court hearing came a day after Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates announced the withdrawal of the motion to vacate judgment filed by the previous administration.
| DOCUMENTS: Public Filing | Executive Summary (PDFs)
In 2022, prosecutors said a new investigation revealed information about two other potential suspects.
Bates spoke on Feb. 26 at a news conference after the court hearing, saying one of the issues contributing to his decision to withdraw the motion surrounded handwritten notes indicating there were two alternative suspects who could have killed Lee. Bates said that after review, those notes did not point to any other suspects.
“We also found that the notes were likely disclosed to the defense before trial. Also, even if one of these notes was mistakenly withheld by the state, the notes did not point to an alternative suspect or suspects. One note actually implicates Mr. Syed, and the other note contains information that was known to the state and the defense well before the time of the original trial,” Bates said.
Raw video below: Ivan Bates speaks after Adnan Syed hearing (Feb. 26)
Bates further said: “If we had the evidence and we said, ‘This is the evidence that we have,’ I have no doubt that if there’s strong evidence that pointed to innocence, as Mr. Lee stated, we don’t want the wrong person in jail. We did that in another case we had, and the family was very upset this man spent 30 years in prison when he shouldn’t have.”
Speaking at the same news conference, Young Lee said: “Two years ago, a system broke, a system failed me. I felt betrayed. But thanks to David Sanford and his team, and Mr. Bates and his team to correct that wrong, fix the system and give victims a right to say, ‘Give us a voice. Give us a chance to say what we need to say.’ And, today, I also want to thank the judge for putting my sister, a true victim of this heinous crime, and let people know it’s my sister who is the true victim here. So, I hope she will make the right decision.”
Syed has maintained his innocence from the beginning, but many questions remain unanswered even after the “Serial” podcast combed through the evidence, reexamined legal arguments and interviewed witnesses. The series debuted in 2014 and drew millions of listeners who became armchair detectives.
Rife with legal twists and turns, the case has recently pitted criminal justice reform efforts against the rights of crime victims and their families, whose voices are often at odds with a growing movement to acknowledge and correct systemic racism, police misconduct and prosecutorial missteps.
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