BALTIMORE — The Maryland attorney general’s office on Friday joined Hae Min Lee’s family in calling for a pause to circuit court proceedings for Adnan Syed, the man who served more than 20 years in prison for Lee’s murder prior to having his conviction tossed out last month.
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby still has to decide if she will re-try Syed. Prosecutors are narrowing in on another suspect in the case, multiple sources told WJZ this week.
Lee’s brother, Young, filed a notice of appeal on Sept. 28. In their filing Friday, Attorney General Brian Frosh and Assistant Attorney General Carrie Williams joined Lee in saying Syed’s cause should be paused until the appeal is heard.
Last month, Mosby filed a motion to have the conviction tossed after an investigation conducted by prosecutors and Syed’s defense revealed previously undisclosed evidence pointing to two other suspects. A judge granted the motion on Sept. 19, setting Syed free.
Syed, 41, has always maintained his innocence in the killing of his ex-girlfriend, and the prosecution of the case gained nationwide attention in 2014 through the podcast “Serial.”
Young Lee has said his family was not given proper notice of the hearing to vacate Syed’s conviction.
In their motion, Frosh and Williams agreed, writing that Mosby’s office only gave the Lee family two days notice of its intention to file a motion calling for Syed’s conviction to be thrown out.
On Friday, Sept. 16, an attorney with Mosby’s office told Young Lee an in-person hearing was scheduled for the following Monday and sent a Zoom link to watch, they wrote.
“She did not tell Mr. Lee that he had a right to speak or otherwise participate in the hearing,” Frosh and Williams wrote.
Lee hired a lawyer asking to postpone the hearing by seven days so he could attend the hearing himself. Judge Melissa Phinn denied that motion, but she gave Lee time to speak over Zoom.
“This is not a podcast for me. This is real life – a never-ending nightmare for 20-plus years,” he said, referring to “Serial.”
Frosh and Williams argue Mosby’s office violated the Maryland Declaration of Rights’ “mandate to treat victims with ‘dignity, respect, and sensitivity.'”
In a separate motion, Frosh and Williams asked to strike a response from Syed’s team to the motion to stay court proceedings, arguing that because Lee is appealing a decision by the state, Syed is not a party to the appeal.
Hae Min Lee went missing in January 1999, when she was 18 years old. Her body was found weeks later in Baltimore City’s Leakin Park.
Both she and Syed were students at Woodlawn High School.
Syed was 17 years old when he was charged in Lee’s death.
He was convicted of the crime in 2000.