ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) 鈥 The protracted legal odyssey of Adnan Syed, whose murder case rose to prominence through the hit podcast 鈥淪erial,鈥 marked its latest development Thursday when a Maryland appeals court considered whether the victim鈥檚 family experienced improper treatment when a Baltimore court overturned Syed鈥檚 conviction last year, allowing his release after more than two decades behind bars.
The Appellate Court of Maryland will issue a ruling on the matter within 90 days.
Surviving relatives of Hae Min Lee, Syed鈥檚 ex-girlfriend and high school classmate who was strangled to death and found buried in a makeshift grave in 1999, contend because they didn鈥檛 receive enough notice about the court hearing that won Syed his freedom. They requested a redo of the September hearing 鈥 which would likely require reinstating Syed鈥檚 conviction 鈥 to allow Lee鈥檚 brother a meaningful opportunity to participate.
The answer to their request could have significant implications, both for Syed鈥檚 future and, more broadly, for the role of crime victims in the Maryland court system.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not on a campaign to have Adnan Syed put back in jail,鈥 attorney David Sanford, who represents the Lee family, said on the courthouse steps following the hearing. 鈥淭his is about respecting victims and their representatives.鈥
Sanford said the lower court should have to hold a more substantive hearing and better communicate its reasoning for overturning Syed鈥檚 conviction 鈥渟o that the world can know the basis for releasing Adnan Syed."
But granting crime victims and their attorneys the power to actively participate in such evidentiary hearings would vastly expand their influence, said Syed鈥檚 attorney, Erica Suter.
鈥淕iving Appellant what he wants will not just result in the re-imprisonment of Mr. Syed for a crime he did not commit, it will wreak havoc on our criminal justice system,鈥 she wrote in recent court papers.
But Lee鈥檚 family spent decades believing justice had been served, only to be treated as an afterthought when prosecutors decided their case was actually flawed from the beginning, according to their attorneys.
Lawyers for the Lee family said that a closed-door meeting between a Baltimore judge and local prosecutors in advance of the vacatur hearing amounted to a violation of open meetings standards.
Syed was unshackled inside the courtroom and descended the courthouse steps in downtown Baltimore, surrounded by loved ones and cheering supporters.
He was freed from prison after prosecutors said a monthslong review of the case found alternative suspects and unreliable evidence used at trial. Prosecutors had 30 days after his release to decide whether to retry him, but they ultimately , saying additional DNA testing had excluded him as a suspect.
Attorneys for Syed argue the Lee family鈥檚 appeal became moot after prosecutors dropped the charges. During oral arguments Thursday, a three-judge panel focused much of their questioning on that argument.
鈥淭here is no underlying conviction. There is no case,鈥 Judge Stuart Berger said, asking the Lee family鈥檚 attorneys to better explain why the appeal shouldn鈥檛 be declared moot.
鈥淚t makes all the difference in the world if the case is moot,鈥 he said later on. If the court dismisses the appeal on those grounds, it could still issue a ruling clarifying how victims should be treated in future cases.
The judges also raised questions about why the Baltimore State鈥檚 Attorney鈥檚 Office chose to drop charges against Syed eight days before their 30-day deadline 鈥 when was pending.
The family鈥檚 attorneys said the September hearing was too rushed, scheduled on Friday for the following Monday. Lee鈥檚 brother, Young Lee, wanted to participate in person, but he addressed the court over Zoom instead, unable to make travel plans from the West Coast on such short notice. That was after the judge denied his attorney鈥檚 request to postpone the hearing for a week so he could travel to Baltimore.
Maryland law says prosecutors must give victims 鈥渞easonable鈥 notice about such hearings.
The judges expressed skepticism about whether it was reasonable for Young Lee to be given notice one business day before the hearing 鈥 and whether the hearing should have been postponed at his request.
鈥淚 feel betrayed,鈥 he said via Zoom during the proceeding in September. 鈥淭his is not a podcast for me. This is real life.鈥
He attended the Thursday oral arguments in person but didn鈥檛 participate or provide comment to reporters.
Syed also was present, along with his parents and younger brother. After the hearing, they exited the courthouse together, with Syed pushing his father鈥檚 wheelchair slowly through the front entrance. In a brief statement to reporters, he described how the case has impacted his family.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard for us,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e definitely understand that Hae鈥檚 family has suffered so much and they continue to suffer. It鈥檚 just that we suffer, too.鈥
