Maryland appellate court docket panel orders new listening to into 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee, saying decrease court docket violated proper of sufferer’s household to attend important listening to in case.
(AP Archive)
A Maryland appellate court docket has reinstated Adnan Syed’s homicide conviction and ordered a brand new listening to, marking the most recent growth within the protracted authorized odyssey chronicled within the hit podcast “Serial.”
Though Syed’s conviction was reinstated on Tuesday, he won’t instantly be taken again into custody.
In a 2-1 resolution, the Appellate Court of Maryland dominated a decrease court docket failed to provide adequate discover to the sufferer’s household when it scheduled the September listening to that vacated Syed’s conviction and allowed him to regain his freedom after greater than twenty years behind bars.
The intermediate court docket’s order doesn’t go into impact for 60 days, which delays any instant penalties and permits the events time to resolve whether or not to enchantment and schedule upcoming proceedings accordingly.
Syed’s lawyer Erica Suter stated they are going to ask the state supreme court docket to evaluation the case.
Maryland regulation supplies victims with the suitable to prior discover of conviction vacatur hearings, and that proper was violated within the case of Hae Min Lee’s brother, the appellate court docket dominated.
Syed was convicted in 2000 of killing Lee, his highschool ex-girlfriend whose physique was present in a makeshift grave after her disappearance in 1999.
Syed, 41, was launched final September after serving greater than twenty years in jail for Lee’s homicide after prosecutors supplied new DNA proof that pointed to different suspects.
He was exonerated of the costs in October.
Improper notification
Lee’s brother, Young Lee, was notified on a Friday afternoon that the listening to would happen the next Monday, giving him just one business day earlier than the listening to was “insufficient time to reasonably allow Mr. Lee, who lived in California, to attend the hearing in person,” as a substitute requiring him to attend remotely, the appellate court docket dominated.
Young Lee attended the listening to through Zoom after the decide denied his request to postpone the proceedings one week to permit his in-person attendance.
Lee’s household filed the enchantment arguing that they weren’t correctly notified of the efforts to launch Syed.
“Because the circuit court violated Mr. Lee’s right to notice of, and his right to attend, the hearing on the State’s motion to vacate…this Court has the power and obligation to remedy those violations, as long we can do so without violating Mr. Syed’s right to be free from double jeopardy,” court docket paperwork stated.
The Lee household spent a long time believing justice had been served, solely to be handled as an afterthought when prosecutors determined their case was really flawed from the start, their attorneys have argued. The appellate court docket largely agreed.
“Allowing a victim entitled to attend a court proceeding to attend in person, when the victim makes that request and all other persons involved in the hearing appear in person, is consistent with the constitutional requirement that victims be treated with dignity and respect,” the court docket dominated.
The court docket additionally stated the brand new listening to must be extra clear, requiring that “evidence supporting the motion to vacate is presented, and the court states its reasons in support of its decision.”
No ‘secret proof’
David Sanford, an lawyer representing Young Lee, stated that piece of the ruling specifically has severe implications as a result of it means there shall be “evidence for the world to see and examine.”
“We are delighted that the court agrees with Mr. Lee,” he stated. “Decisions made by courts should not be based on secret evidence.”
But Suter stated “there is no basis for re-traumatising Adnan by returning him to the status of a convicted felon.”
After Syed’s conviction was vacated, Baltimore prosecutors had 30 days to resolve whether or not to retry him.
They introduced their resolution to drop the costs eight days earlier than the deadline was up — whereas an enchantment from the Lee household was pending.
The appellate judges interrogated that timeline and concluded the state acted “with the purpose … of preventing Mr. Lee from obtaining a ruling on the appeal,” which Syed’s attorneys later argued was moot as a result of there have been no underlying prices.
The State Attorney’s Office place is additional sophisticated by a latest change in management. The present state’s lawyer, Ivan Bates, took workplace in December — not lengthy after his predecessor, Marilyn Mosby, determined to drop the costs towards Syed, saying extra DNA testing had excluded him as a suspect. That was after her workplace carried out a yearlong evaluation of the case and located prior prosecutors made important missteps.
Her resolution to re-examine the case got here after Syed’s appeals had been repeatedly denied. Even after the “Serial” podcast raised quite a few questions in regards to the proof that resulted in Syed’s conviction and garnered a large following of supporters, Syed remained behind bars for a number of extra years.
“We notified the victim’s family in line with Maryland law and best practices, and they attended virtually and spoke,” she stated.
“To now send this case back to court prolongs the pain for the Lee family, and leaves a cloud hanging over a man who deserves to be free, Adnan Syed.”
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