A Maryland appeals court panel has upheld Adnan Syed’s murder conviction. His story gained notoriety after being included in the popular podcast Serial.
A court overturned Syed’s conviction in September at the Baltimore prosecutors’ request, citing the failure of earlier prosecutors to turn over material that might have changed the outcome of his case.
Syed had been found guilty in 2000 of killing his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee the previous year. He fought the ruling for more than two decades.
The Appellate Court of Maryland decided on Tuesday that the lower court had broken the law by failing to give Lee’s family sufficient notice of a hearing to overturn the conviction.
Only one working day’s notice to Lee’s brother Young Lee, who lived in California, was deemed insufficient by the court to “reasonably allow Mr. Lee, who lived in California, to attend” in person. He finally had to watch from a distance.
The court declared that it must correct the errors made by the lower court “so long as we can do so without impairing Mr. Syed’s privilege against double jeopardy.”
The decision stated, “We can do that, and as a result, we vacate the circuit court’s order vacating Mr. Syed’s convictions, resulting in the reinstatement of the original convictions and sentence. It further stated that Syed’s conviction would be overturned at a subsequent hearing.
Baltimore prosecutors said they did not claim Syed was innocent when they asked the courts to overturn his conviction last year. They suggested that he be released on his own recognisance or bail instead, claiming that they lacked trust “in the integrity of the conviction.”
The conviction was overturned by the prosecution due to “undisclosed and recently acquired information involving two alternative suspects, as well as faulty cell phone tower data.”
Prosecutors claimed that the “alternative suspects” were known individuals at the time of the initial investigation and neither were properly ruled out nor provided to the defence.
Syed’s conviction would be overturned as a result of the move, but the lawsuit would continue to be in progress.
Adnan Syed leaves court after a judge overturned his 2000 murder conviction and ordered a new trial in September 2022
According to the Maryland state attorney’s office at the time, “the outcome of the continuing investigation will determine whether the state ultimately proceeds with a trial in this issue or drops the charges.”
Syed, who was 17 years old when the murder occurred, has long avowed his innocence.
As the Serial podcast’s first season concentrated on the case and cast doubt on some of the evidence, including mobile phone tower data, his narrative attracted the interest of millions of people.
After the most recent decision, Syed is not expected to be sent back in custody, according to The Associated Press.
