Maryland high court to review Syed's conviction in 'Serial' podcast case

[June 29, 2023]  (Reuters) - The case of Adnan Syed, whose conviction for a Maryland murder was overturned and later reinstated, will be reviewed by the state's highest court under an order issued Monday, documents showed. 

Syed, who was found guilty in 2000 of murdering 18-year-old Hae Min Lee and sentenced to life in prison, was released last year after an investigation identified problems with the case against him, leading a circuit court judge to vacate his conviction.

Adnan Syed, whose case was chronicled in the hit podcast "Serial," departs after a judge overturned Syed's 2000 murder conviction and ordered a new trial during a hearing at the Baltimore City Circuit Courthouse in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., September 19, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

His case drew new attention after the popular podcast "Serial" raised doubts about his guilt. He served more than 20 years for the crime, which was committed when Syed was 17.

The judge left it to prosecutors to decide whether to retry him and they decided to drop the case.

But after Lee's family said it had been denied the ability to attend a critical hearing the case, an appeals panel in Maryland reinstated the conviction and ordered a new hearing.

The appeals court did not force Syed to return to prison, saying that the issue could be handled without violating protections in the U.S. court system against trying someone twice for the same crime.

On Wednesday, Maryland Supreme Court senior Justice Shirley M. Watts said the court would review both the appeals panel's ruling and a petition filed by the victim's family representative, Young Lee.

Arguments in the case were set for Oct. 5.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

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