ANNAPOLIS, Md. –
The household of the sufferer within the homicide case chronicled within the first season of the “Serial” podcast has requested Maryland’s intermediate appellate courtroom to halt Adnan Syed’s courtroom case pending the household’s attraction of a choose’s overturning of Syed’s homicide conviction.
Younger Lee, the brother of sufferer Hae Min Lee, requested the Maryland Court docket of Particular Appeals in a six-page movement filed late final month to droop additional proceedings, together with an Oct. 18 deadline by which prosecutors should resolve whether or not to drop the fees in opposition to Syed or retry him for the killing. He contends that the household was not given sufficient discover a couple of courtroom listening to final month over whether or not Syed’s conviction ought to be overturned.
“The Lee household is just not in search of, via this movement or via the attraction, to influence Mr. Syed’s launch from custody,” stated the household’s lawyer, Steve Kelly. “If the improper particular person has been behind bars for 23 years, the Lee household and the remainder of the world need to perceive what new proof has led to that conclusion.”
Baltimore Circuit Choose Melissa Phinn overturned Syed’s conviction on Sept. 19. The Baltimore State’s Legal professional’s Workplace stated it discovered proof that ought to have been disclosed to Syed’s attorneys.
Prosecutors moved to vacate Syed’s conviction on Sept. 14. That adopted a yearlong investigation and was two days after they notified the Lee household, the household’s movement says. Then on Sept. 16, Syed’s attorneys and prosecutors mentioned the movement at a gathering in Phinn’s chambers.
Phinn ordered a brand new trial, however prosecutors got 30 days — till Oct. 18 — through which to dismiss the fees or proceed with a brand new trial.
Syed has all the time maintained his innocence. His case captured the eye of tens of millions in 2014 when the debut season of “Serial” centered on Lee’s killing and raised doubts about a few of the proof prosecutors had used, inspiring heated debates throughout dinner tables and water coolers about Syed’s innocence or guilt.
Syed was serving a life sentence after he was convicted of strangling 18-year-old Lee, whose physique was discovered buried in a Baltimore park.
Prosecutors stated a reinvestigation of the case revealed proof relating to the attainable involvement of two different attainable suspects. The 2 suspects could also be concerned individually or could also be concerned collectively, the state’s lawyer’s workplace stated.