Crime & Safety
Victim's Family's Appeal In Adnan Syed Case Moves Forward: Report
The family of Hae Min Lee claims their rights as crime victims were violated during the trial that freed Syed, according to a report.
BALTIMORE, MD — A Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled an appeal filed by the family of Hae Min Lee can continue, according to a report by The Baltimore Sun. The decision comes just weeks after a Baltimore judge overturned the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, who served more than 20 years in prison for Lee's 1999 slaying.
Lee's family filed an appeal shortly after the Sept. 19 trial that freed Syed, claiming their rights as crime victims had been violated, the Sun reported.
In September, Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn vacated Syed’s first-degree murder conviction in Lee's death after Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby and Syed’s lawyer filed motions questioning the integrity of the trial and evidence that sent Syed to prison.
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The judge ordered Syed unshackled in court and to remain on GPS monitoring pending a new trial. She also told prosecutors they had 30 days to either schedule a new trial or drop the case.
Prosecutors dropped all charges against Syed in October.
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According to the Sun, the Lee family isn't seeking to return Syed to prison. Instead, the family is hoping to establish their rights as crime victims under Maryland law were violated.
Syed, now 42, was found guilty in a 2000 trial of killing Lee, who died by strangulation on Jan. 13, 1999. Her body was found in Leakin Park in Baltimore after she was reported missing.
Mosby filed the motion to vacate Syed's murder conviction and asked for a new trial. Syed was serving a life sentence for Lee's murder.
The Serial podcast became a pop-culture sensation with its detailed examination over 12 episodes of the case against Syed, including the actions of his lawyer, who agreed to be disbarred amid complaints of wrongdoing in 2001 and died in 2004, The New York Times reported.
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