Baltimore prosecutors said Monday they filed a motion supporting a reduced sentence for Adnan Syed, a subject of the hit crime podcast "Serial" whose 1999 murder conviction was vacated but then reinstated by the state Supreme Court.
Syed, 43, was convicted in 2000 for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, his ex-girlfriend and classmate at Woodlawn High School outside Baltimore. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years but was released from prison in 2022 after prosecutors found flaws in trial evidence and a Baltimore judge agreed to vacate his conviction.
But in August, the state Supreme Court called for a new hearing on whether the conviction should be vacated because the victim's relatives didn't receive adequate notice to allow them to attend the original proceeding that freed Syed.
The motion filed Friday by Baltimore City State Attorney Ivan Bates and he asked the court to grant a request by Syed's attorneys for a hearing and modify his sentence to life, suspending all but time served with a period of probation, CBS News reported. Bates requested a hearing for Feb. 25 or Feb. 26.
Syed's attorneys filed a motion in December asking for a judge to reduce his sentence based on the state's Juvenile Restoration Act, which allows those who have been imprisoned for at least 20 years for crimes committed when they were minors to seek a change in sentence.
Syed, 43, has maintained his innocence and his attorneys said last month he fears he will be sent back to prison, according to CBS News. Lee was found strangled to death and buried in an unmarked grave in 1999. Syed was 17 at the time.
"Because the conviction was reinstated, he and his loved ones live with the constant fear that he will be sent back to prison," the Maryland Office of the Public Defender said Monday, according to NBC News. The office is working with the Innocence Project Clinic at Baltimore Law School to overturn Syed's conviction.
David Sanford, an attorney for Lee's family, said in an email Monday to NBC News that Syed's legal team has "not presented a shred of new, let alone compelling, evidence" supporting his innocence or worthiness for a reduced sentence.
"Adnan Syed remains a convicted murderer," Sanford said. "Having failed to produce new evidence and without any acknowledgment of guilt by Mr. Syed, Syed's attorneys now seek mercy, arguing that Mr. Syed is not a danger to the public. We will confer with the family of Hae Min Lee and present our position to the court in the days ahead."
The "Serial" podcast, which broke through in 2014 amid a wave of true crime podcasts, combed through evidence in Syed's case, reexamined legal arguments and interviewed witnesses. HBO followed with a docuseries "The Case Against Adnan Syed" in 2019.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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