Adnan Syed can remain out of prison and free.
The 43-year-old Baltimore, Maryland, man’s murder case was featured in the popular podcast “Serial.”
Syed learned Thursday from a judge that his conviction for murder stands, but he is now out of prison for time served.
That decision was made based on a new Maryland law that makes it easier for people to get out of prison earlier when the crimes they committed happened while they were teenagers.
Syed’s conviction stems from the 1999 killing of his ex-girlfriend from high school — Hae Min Lee. She was found dead in a Baltimore park.
He was released from prison three years ago after prosecutors moved to vacate his conviction. That conviction was later reinstated on appeal.
Syed has always maintained his innocence.
Erica Suter, assistant public defender and director of the Innocence Project Clinic at University of Baltimore Law School, released a statement Thursday on behalf of Syed’s legal team.
“Today, we are focused on the joy and relief of this decision. Adnan is grateful that the Judge agreed with his motion to reduce his sentence under the Juvenile Restoration Act. Given his accomplishments in prison and his work in the community since release, he was a model candidate for a sentence reduction. Adnan is committed to continuing to be a productive member of his community and living a life centered around his family.”
During the court hearing last week in Baltimore — Lee’s family urged the judge to uphold Syed’s life sentence.
David Sanford is the Lee family attorney. He joined WTOP’s Shawn Anderson and Anne Kramer to discuss the family’s reaction to the latest development in the case.
Read and listen to the interview below.
The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
David Sanford: Well, the family has always said that they’re not on a campaign to have Adnan Syed spend the rest of his life in prison. The problem here was that the state came forward two and a half years ago and presented information to the court that led to Adnan Syed’s release, and the information was supposedly new information that called into question the integrity of the conviction. The problem is, we always said that there wasn’t new information, it wasn’t compelling information, and in fact, the state agreed with us last Tuesday, when it came out publicly and said what was presented to the court two and a half years ago was false and misleading.
In other words, Adnan said never should have been released from jail two and a half years ago because the information that the state relied on to have him be released from prison was false and misleading.
Shawn Anderson: Tell us what Young Lee and Hae Min’s mother told the judge last week in court to try to keep Syed in prison.
David Sanford: It was a very emotional day, and Young Lee, Hae Min Lee’s brother, was there in person and spoke through his tears about how he will never be an uncle to a niece or a nephew. How he’ll never get to see his sister, Hae, walk down the aisle. And the mother, on a video link, speaking in Korean, but we had it in subtitles, talked movingly about the death and how it was like her own death, and she spoke for about 10 minutes.
It was a very moving moment in court, and very difficult for the family to reconcile in light of the fact that Adnan Syed remains a convicted murderer. He was convicted of premeditated murder as well as kidnapping and robbery, and there’s never been any evidence to call that into question.
Anne Kramer: David, this is such an unusual case because it got so much attention with the podcast coverage. You’ve been an attorney for a long time. How surprised are you that it has ended this way?
David Sanford: Well, I’m not shocked. The judge was very thorough in her decision, and I think it is a decision that could have gone either way. It is a close call, because the reality is, Adnan Syed has been, even though under false pretense, has been out free for the last two and a half years. And I think the record shows that he’s not a danger to the community. I don’t think anyone could argue that he is dangerous to the community.
But there were 11 factors that the court needed to consider. And we argued that Adnan Syed failed seven of those factors, and the judge ultimately gave her opinion saying that it was a close call, five factors in favor, five factors against, and then ultimately, the issue about not being a danger to the community and having this be in the interest of justice, swayed her to convince her that Adnan Syed should remain free.
He will be on probation for five years, and there will be conditions imposed by the court next week at next week’s hearing.
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