Judge rules Adnan Syed will remain free, granting his motion for sentence reduction

By Lauren del Valle, CNN

(CNN) — Adnan Syed will remain free despite his conviction for the 1999 murder of his high school ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, a Maryland judge ruled.

In a court order Thursday, Judge Jennifer Schiffer granted Syed a sentence reduction to time served, allowing him to remain free. Syed’s conviction was vacated in 2022 and he was released and has remained out of prison since, even though the Maryland Supreme Court upheld a lower appellate court’s decision to reinstate his conviction last year.

“After considering the entire record, the court concludes that the Defendant is not a danger to the public and that the interests of justice will be better served by a reduced sentence,” Schiffer wrote in the court order. Schiffer will officially impose the reduced sentence at a hearing to be held in the next two weeks.

The victory for Syed, however, is not tied to his innocence.

Syed’s attorneys petitioned the court last December for the sentence reduction under Maryland’s Juvenile Restoration Act, a 2021 state law allowing individuals who were minors at the time of their crimes and have served at least 20 years in prison to seek a reduced sentence. Syed was 17 at the time of Lee’s murder and served nearly 24 years in prison for the murder conviction.

His lawyers have indicated they will continue to pursue Syed’s innocence but Thursday said they are focused on celebrating his freedom.

“Today, we are focused on the joy and relief of this decision. Adnan is grateful that the Judge agreed with his motion to reduce his sentence under the Juvenile Restoration Act,” Syed’s attorney Erica Suter said in a statement. “Adnan is committed to continuing to be a productive member of his community and living a life centered around his family.”

The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office supported Syed’s sentence reduction though attorneys for Lee’s family opposed his release, asking the court to deny his motion at a hearing last month.

David Sanford, attorney for Lee’s family, said in a statement about Schiffer’s order Thursday, “Absolutely nothing changes the fact that Mr. Syed remains convicted of first-degree premeditated murder due to overwhelming direct and circumstantial evidence. We hope that one day Mr. Syed can summon the courage to take responsibility for his crime and express sincere remorse.”

The judge weighed several factors in determining whether to send Syed back to prison as required under the Juvenile Restoration Act. If the decision only considered the seriousness of the crime and appropriate punishment, Schiffer said she’d have denied his motion.

Schiffer wrote, “Although the Defendant acknowledges the impact of his actions and the legal drama that followed on the Lee family, the Defendant stands convicted of the premeditated, brutal, and deliberate slaying of Hae Min Lee, his high school ex-girlfriend. The heinous nature of the offense weighs against granting the Defendant relief under the JRA.”

His proven track record since being released in 2022 ultimately swayed her to allow Syed to remain free, the order says.

“The Court is confident that the Defendant is no longer a danger to public safety,” Schiffer wrote.

“Finally, while rehabilitation, discussed supra, is complicated in this case, the Court believes that the Defendant has proven, through his institutional history and since his release, that he is fit to live in society. This Court finds that the Defendant’s return to prison would be unproductive and unfair.”

Case drew international attention

In 2014, the podcast “Serial” raised significant questions about Syed’s conviction and legal representation. Syed’s conviction was vacated in 2022 and he was released, but Lee’s family challenged the decision.

Last August, the Maryland Supreme Court upheld a lower appellate court’s decision to reinstate Syed’s conviction, ruling the rights of Lee’s family were violated because her official representative, her brother Young Lee, was not properly notified of the 2022 hearing to vacate the conviction. The high court’s ruling meant Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, who took office in 2023, had to decide whether to continue his predecessor’s efforts to vacate the conviction.

Bates said in a previous motion hearing to reduce Syed’s sentence he shouldn’t have been released but he also shouldn’t be penalized for the actions of the previous prosecutors.

In a court filing released the night before the hearing, Bates said he’d withdraw the motion to vacate Syed’s conviction because he found his predecessor’s investigation was flawed. Bates said the motion filed by former prosecutor Marilyn Mosby contained “false and misleading statements.”

“After a thorough review of the Motion to Vacate Judgment filed by the previous administration in the case of Adnan Syed, my office has determined that it contains false and misleading statements that undermine the integrity of the judicial process,” Bates said in an announcement of the decision.

Bates conducted a monthslong investigation before determining Mosby’s motion to vacate Syed’s conviction was flawed, according to the filing, but did not assess the credibility of the case against Syed.

The judge could have sent Syed back to prison to continue serving the life sentence he was issued in 2000.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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