Attorneys for Adnan Syed, whose complex legal case was chronicled in the hit podcast "Serial," are seeking to have his prison sentence reduced as he awaits further court decisions, the AP reports. Syed was released from prison in 2022 and has remained free ever since, though his court case is ongoing. His lawyers are seeking to reduce his sentence under a Maryland law that allows people who have been imprisoned for at least 20 years for crimes committed when they were minors to seek a change in sentence.
Syed was released when a Baltimore judge overturned his conviction in response to a request from prosecutors who said they found flaws in the evidence. But in August, Maryland's Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that reinstated Syed's conviction while allowing him to remain free pending a new hearing about whether he should have been released. The court said the family of victim Hae Min Lee didn't receive adequate notice to allow them to attend the original hearing in person. The defense attorneys' filing on Friday seeks to maintain Syed's freedom until the new hearing.
"This filing is a small step toward ensuring that Adnan's custody status is stabilized and his freedom is safeguarded," said Erica Suter, Syed's attorney and an assistant public defender who directs the Innocence Project Clinic at University of Baltimore Law School. She said Syed's accomplishments and good conduct, both during his incarceration and since release, support reducing his sentence. Since his release, Syed has been working at Georgetown University's Prisons and Justice Initiative and caring for his and his spouse's elderly parents; his father recently died. (More Adnan Syed stories.)
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