Adnan Syed, Whose Murder Conviction was the subject of the hit podcast Serialwas officialy freed from prison after a judge agreed to return his sentence to time serves.
A Judge Approved Syed's Sentence Reduction Bid in A decision Handed Down March 6, Just Over a Week After An Emotional Hearing on the Matter in Baltimore on Feb. 26 For Crimes They Committed As Minors New Opportunities to Secure Early Release. Syed was 17 when he allegedly killed His High School ex-Gillfriend, Hae Min Lee.
In Her Ruling, Judge Jennifer Schiffer Said Syed Was “Not a Danger to the Public,” Adding, “The interests of Justice Will Be Better Served by A A Reduced Sentence.”
Syed, Now 43, Speent Over 20 Years in Prison After Being Found Guilty of Killing Lee. He Has Always Maintained His Innocence, and His Case Garnered National Attention After Serial Raised Questions About The Investigation Into Syed.
In a statement, David Sanford, in Lawyer for Lee's Family, Decried Today's Ruling, Espencially in Light of a decision prosecutors Made Last Week to drop a Motion to Vacate Syed's conviction. (Despite that Move, prosecutors continued to back syed's sentence reduction bid.)
“The State of Maryland Just Last Week AcknowledEdged that it Had Present 'False and Misleading' Information to the Court in Support of Mr. Syed's Release More Than Twa Years ago,” Sanford Said. “We now know there was never any new information that called into question adnan syed's guilty green. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING CHAGGES THE FACT THAT MR. SYED REMAINS CONVICTED OF FIRST-DEGREE PRESIDATED MURDER DUE TO OVERWHELMING Direct and Circumstantial evidence. We Hope That One Day Mr. Syed Can Sumon The Courage to take Responsibility for His Crime and Express Sincere remorse. “
Lawyers for Syed Did Not Immediately Return a Request for Comment.
In 2022, Syed Was Released from Prison When Bates' predecessor, Marilyn Mosby, Filed a Motion to with Judgment. It was great, but an enseUn Ensuring Battle Led to his conviction Being Reinstated: Lee's Family Challenged the Motion On ProcedILL GOUNDS, Saying they weren'T Given Enough Advance Notice to Attention to Hearing on the Decision to Drop Charges. Last August, The Maryland Supreme Court Upheld That Ruling and Orthoded a Redo on the Hearing to Vacate Syed's Conviction. (Despite This Turn, Syed Was Allawed to Remain Out of Prison.)
Bates, However, Ultimtely Chose a Different Path. Though He Backed Syed's Sentence Reduction Bid, on Feb. 25 – The Day Before The Hearing – He Nortewed That He Wound With the Motion to Vacate Syed's Murder Convention. With Today's Ruling, Syed is officialy free, but His conviction Remains in Place.
Of his decision to drop the motion to vacate, Bates Said His Office Had Determined That the Original Contained “False and Misleading Statements that Undermine The Integrity of the Judial Process.” He continued: “As prosecutors, our duty is to seek justice and ensure that all legal processes are conducted transparently, accurally, and fairly.”
The “False and Misleading Statements” Regard Claims That the State Withheld Evidence from Syed's Defense Team, in This Case, Two Notes Written by Original ContiCuer Kevin Urick Suggesting Two Alternative Suspects. But Bates, in A Filing, Said the “Notes Do Not Point to Alternative Suspects,” The “Alternative Alternative Suspects Were Known to the Defense Counsel” Before the Trial, and the Notes Likely Were Turned Over to Syed's Defese at the Time.
Syed's Lawyer, Erica Setter, Criticized the decision at the time, Saying, “Tonight, The State's Attney Got It Wrong. His Decision to Withdraw His Office's Motion to Vacate Adnan's conviction Ignores The Injustices On Which This conviction was founded. We will continue to Fight to Clear His Name Through All Legal Avenues Available to Him. “
Bates, in his filing, acknowledged this, Saying the decision to with the motion to vacate Did Not “precludes Mr. Syed from Raising Any New Issues that he Believes Will Support His Innocence in the proper post -iat pleadings.”
Since His Release From Prison in 2022, Syed Has Been Working at Georgetown University's Prisons and Justice Initiative While Also Caring For Relatives. (His Father Diad Last october after a Long Illness.) In Backing Syed's Sentence Reduction, Bates Said the Case was “Precisely What Legislates Envisioned when they crafted” The Law. He continued: “We have an individual whose Has ServiD over 20 years in Prison from the time he was a teen and who has displays tremendous personal growth and reform.”
At the Sentence Reduction Hearing on Feb. 26, Syed's Attorneys Called Several Character Witnesses, Including His Younger Brother, Two Fellow Forment Inmates and Friends, and A Forensic Social Worker. Syed's boss at the Prisons and Justice Initiative, Which Helps Formers Inmates Readjust to Life Outside Prison, Mark Howard, Called Syed “Kind, Thoughtful, Compassionate,” And Said He Was A “Cultural Bridge” for Many of His Coworkers in Helping Them Undenand “The Challenges Someone in Prison Face. ”
Meanwhile, Several Members of Lee's Family Spoke Against Reducing Syed's Statement, Including Her Brother and Mother. While on the stand, The Latter Said, “This is really America? Is this not assumption to beer justice is alive, and criminals are punished for their sins? ”
