BALTIMORE (AP) — Adnan Syed, whose case amassed a worldwide following of “Serial” podcast listeners, will remain free — even though his murder conviction still stands, a Baltimore judge ruled on Thursday.
Judge Jennifer Schiffer agreed to reduce Syed’s sentence to time served under a relatively new state law that provides a pathway to release for people convicted of crimes committed when they were minors. The judge ruled that he will be on supervised probation for five years.
“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 decision.
The judge’s ruling followed a hearing last week that included emotional testimony from Syed and relatives of the victim, Hae Min Lee, who was strangled and buried in a shallow grave in a Baltimore park in 1999.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys told Schiffer that Syed, now 43, doesn’t pose a risk to public safety. Lee’s brother and mother urged the judge to uphold his life sentence.
Syed, who has maintained his innocence, was released from prison in 2022 after Baltimore prosecutors said they had uncovered problems with the case and moved to vacate his conviction, which was later reinstated on appeal. Since his release, he’s been working at Georgetown University’s Prisons and Justice Initiative and caring for aging family members.
The judge noted in her ruling that Syed's behavior after his release gave her confidence he has achieved “the maturity and fitness required for a crime-free life outside of prison,” Schiffer wrote.
Erica Suter, an attorney who represented Syed, said his legal counsel was “focused on the joy and relief of this decision," adding that Syed was grateful the judge reduced his sentence.
“Given his accomplishments in prison and his work in the community since release, he was a model candidate for a sentence reduction,” Suter said. “Adnan is committed to continuing to be a productive member of his community and living a life centered around his family.”
David Sanford, an attorney for Lee's family, said in a statement after the ruling that the state last week acknowledged it had previously presented false and misleading information during former Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's tenure to the court in support of releasing Syed.
“We now know there was never any new information that called into question Adnan Syed’s guilty verdict," Sanford said. "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.”
At Syed's trial, prosecutors painted him as Lee’s jealous ex-boyfriend and built their case around a key witness whose credibility has been heavily questioned. But all these years later, arguments about whether to reduce Syed’s sentence notably sidestepped the issue of guilt or innocence.
The current Baltimore state’s attorney, Ivan Bates, who publicly raised doubts about the integrity of the conviction before becoming the city’s top prosecutor, said last week that his office believes in the jury’s verdict and has no plans to continue investigating the case.
Recent court testimony reviewed the lasting impacts of Lee’s gruesome death and Syed’s 23-year incarceration.
Lee’s family and their attorney said old wounds were ripped open when Syed’s conviction was vacated. The family later succeeded in getting the conviction reinstated after challenging the ruling on procedural grounds, arguing they didn’t receive proper notice to attend the hearing that freed Syed from prison, where they participated only through a video connection.
Hours before the hearing, Bates withdrew Mosby’s earlier motion to vacate the conviction even as he supported a reduced sentence.
On Thursday, Bates said his office’s decision to withdraw the effort to vacate the sentence and the judge’s decision marked “a just outcome for a tragedy that took the life of a young woman whose family is forever altered.”
“I hope the Lee family can find peace and healing in the aftermath of this challenging experience,” Bates said in a statement. “My office is here to support them whenever they may need it.”
While the judge acknowledged Syed’s accomplishments in her remarks to the court last week, she focused on what the Lee family has endured, including witnessing Syed’s “rise to celebrity” following the release of “Serial” in 2014 and a television documentary about the case.
"I hope that everyone understands that Hae Min Lee and her family are the true victims in this case,” she said. “Their suffering cannot be overstated.”
Lea Skene And Brian Witte, The Associated Press
