BALTIMORE — Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a court filing Tuesday that Baltimore’s top prosecutor’s “questionable” conduct in the dismissal of Adnan Syed’s convictions does not disqualify him from a case involving Syed, WJZ has learned.
According to court documents, Syed’s counsel made a motion to disqualify Frosh as counsel for the State of Maryland in the case of an appeal by the family of Hae Minh Lee, the woman Syed was previously convicted of killing over 20 years ago.
The motion was made because Syed said public statements by Frosh questioning Mosby’s tactics showed he was biased against Syed.
“The Attorney General’s decision to call attention to the unorthodox and questionable conduct of Ms. Mosby and her office throughout the reinvestigation, vacatur, and dismissal of Mr. Syed’s convictions was in service of that interest and does not demonstrate a bias against Mr. Syed,” Frosh said in the filing. “This is particularly true in a case where the only issue on appeal is whether the State complied with the laws governing the treatment of victims.”
Syed, 41, was previously sentenced to life after he was convicted for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, his ex-girlfriend. The case first received national attention in 2014 the hit podcast “Serial” raised questions about the prosecution.
He served more than 20 years in prison before his murder conviction was vacated last month. His charges were dropped earlier this month after new DNA testing results excluded him from evidence in the murder of his ex-girlfriend.
Representatives for Young Lee, Hae Min Lee’s brother, filed a notice of appeal on Sept. 28 arguing Lee’s family did not receive enough notice about the hearing to vacate the conviction. Lee’s lawyer argued circuit court proceedings should be paused until the appeal is heard.
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals gave Lee’s representatives 15 days to say why their appeal should continue in light of the charges against Syed being dropped.
Frosh said 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.
They argued Lee should be allowed to make the case Mosby’s office violated the Maryland Declaration of Rights’ “mandate to treat victims with ‘dignity, respect, and sensitivity.'”
On Oct. 12, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals denied the motion and asked why an appeal from the family of the victim, Hae Min Lee, should move forward.
Frosh’s office received 15 days to reply to a defense motion striking the state’s top prosecutor as a party to the appeal.
This is a developing story and will be updated.