Syed was given a life sentence in 2000 when he was just 17 years old for the murder of his former classmate and girlfriend, Hae Min Lee.
But in October 2022, the 43-year-old was set free after the Baltimore City State Attorney claimed that DNA evidence proved his innocence.
Syed has consistently insisted on his innocence and shown empathy for the relatives of Ms. Lee who are still alive.
The latest development in a protracted legal drama made popular by the popular podcast “Serial” is that Maryland’s top court decided on Friday that prior proceedings had infringed the victim’s family’s rights.
A court decision from March of last year that upheld Syed’s conviction was upheld by a 4-3 vote.
The Justices did rule that Syed can be free while the matter is transferred to a new judge in a lower court to reevaluate whether or not his conviction should be overturned.
In the most recent proceedings, the court considered how much victim participation is allowed in sessions where a conviction may be overturned.
The majority of justices came to the conclusion that prosecutors and a lower court “worked an injustice” against Ms. Lee’s brother in an attempt to right what they considered to be an injustice to Syed.
