A Maryland court reinstates Adnan Syed’s conviction and orders a new hearing

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland court docket didn’t give the household of the homicide sufferer within the case chronicled within the hit podcast “Serial” sufficient time to attend a court docket listening to in individual that led to Adnan Syed’s launch, a Maryland appellate court docket dominated Tuesday, and it ordered a brand new listening to to be held.

Although Syed’s conviction has been reinstated, he won’t be taken again into custody.

In a 2-1 determination, the Appellate Courtroom of Maryland dominated the state’s regulation gives victims with the fitting to prior discover of the listening to on a movement to vacate convictions, and that proper was violated within the case of the household of Hae Min Lee, Syed’s ex-girlfriend and highschool classmate who died greater than 20 years in the past.

The court docket dominated that giving her brother, Younger Lee, just one enterprise day earlier than the listening to was “inadequate time to moderately permit Mr. Lee, who lived in California, to attend the listening to in particular person,” and required him to attend the listening to remotely.

“Permitting a sufferer entitled to attend a court docket continuing to attend in particular person, when the sufferer makes that request and all different individuals concerned within the listening to seem in particular person, is in line with the constitutional requirement that victims be handled with dignity and respect,” the court docket dominated.

The court docket dominated it’s obligated to treatment the decrease court docket’s violations, “as lengthy we will achieve this with out violating Mr. Syed’s proper to be free from double jeopardy.”

“We are able to do this, and accordingly, we vacate the circuit court docket’s order vacating Mr. Syed’s convictions, which ends up in the reinstatement of the unique convictions and sentence,” the ruling stated. “We remand for a brand new, legally compliant, and clear listening to on the movement to vacate, the place Mr. Lee is given discover of the listening to that’s enough to permit him to attend in particular person, proof supporting the movement to vacate is introduced, and the court docket states its causes in assist of its determination.”

The household had requested the court docket for a redo of the September listening to that led to Syed’s launch.

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