Adnan Syed’s conviction is reinstated. What does that mean?
On Tuesday, the Appellate Court of Maryland reinstated Adnan Syed’s conviction for the murder of Hae Min Lee.
Syed was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend Lee when they were both in high school. His case was featured on the first season of the podcast “Serial.” Last year, I reported for the Deseret News that Lee’s family had released a statement saying that they weren’t satisfied with what the court said about why his conviction was originally vacated. The family filed an appeal, which led to Syed’s conviction being reinstated.
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Even though Syed’s conviction was reinstated, he won’t go back into custody, per NPR. The court ruled that Young Lee, a family member of the victim, wasn’t given enough notice to attend the hearing. Syed will have another hearing where Lee will be given enough notice to attend.
At the new hearing, it’s possible that Syed’s conviction will be vacated again. According to NBC News, the investigation into Lee’s death is still ongoing and the prosecutor believes that there’s evidence pointing to other suspects.
His conviction was vacated on Sept. 19, 2022, and the prosecution had found two new suspects whose identities weren’t public. As I reported for the Deseret News, the prosecution dropped all charges because of DNA evidence that reportedly excluded him from being a suspect.
The date of the new hearing has not yet been announced.
