Case of Adnan Syed: Baltimore prosecutors leave the fight to cancel the condemnation for murder before the hearing

CNN
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Baltimore’s main prosecutor no longer seeks to vacate the Adnan Syed condemnation murderThe man whose case attracted national attention in the “serial” podcast more than a decade ago.

In a new presentation on Tuesday night, the state prosecutor of the city of Baltimore, Ivan Bates, withdrew a motion to vacate Syed’s sentence presented in 2022 by the state prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, saying that the original motion contains “False and misleading statements.”

The prosecutor’s investment occurred only a few hours before Syed owes in the Court for a hearing on a separate motion to reduce his prison sentence.

“After an exhaustive review of the motion to annul Announcement of the announcement of the announcement of decision.

Syed was sentenced in 2000 for the 1999 murder of his then classmate and ex -girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. In 2014, the “Serial” podcast posed significant questions about the condemnation and legal representation of Syed. Syed’s conviction was unemployed in 2022 and was released, but Lee’s family challenged the decision and the parties have been litigating the problem since then.

Last August, Maryland’s Supreme Court restored Syed’s conviction, ruling that Lee’s rights were violated because her official representative, His brother Young Lee was not properly notified of the 2022 hearing to vacate the conviction. The ruling of the Superior Court meant that Bates, who assumed the position in 2023, had to decide whether to continue the efforts of his predecessor.

Upon finding Mosby’s motion defective, the Bates Office did not evaluate the credibility of the case against Syed, according to the presentation. Bates also emphasized that Syed could still pursue other legal routes to demonstrate his innocence.

Syed’s lawyer, Erica J. Suter, abruptly criticized the reversion, saying that the lawyer of the current state “was wrong.”

“His decision to withdraw the motion of his office to vacate the condemnation of ADNAN ignores the injustices on which this conviction was founded. We will continue to fight to clear his name through all the legal routes available to him, ”said Suter in a statement to CNN.

The defense lawyer said that his approach is now to “ensure that Freedom (of Syed) is not removed again” at the hearing to reduce Wednesday’s judgment.

“After spending 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, DNAN is not bitter. He is rebuilding a life for him and his family, while continuing to profess his innocence, ”said Suter, who is also the director of the Innocence Projects Clinic at the Law Faculty of the University of Baltimore in Maryland.

Syed’s lawyers presented the motion of reduction of the sentence in December under the Youth Restoration Law, a state law of 2021 that allowed people who were minors at the time of their crimes and have served at least 20 years in prison A reduced sentence. Syed was 17 years old at the time of Lee’s murder.

Prosecutors have expressed their support for the motion of sentence reduction. Last month, the Bates Office asked the court to modify Syed’s life imprisonment to suspend everything except time fulfilled, with a period of probation.

Syed will remain free if the motion is granted after Wednesday’s audience.

Hanna Park of CNN contributed to this report.