A Maryland decide has formally sentenced Adnan Syed to the time he has already served in jail, showing to lastly bring to a standstill a long-running case with quite a few authorized twists and turns that acquired worldwide consideration from the true-crime podcast Serial.
Choose Jennifer Schiffer had already determined that Syed would stay free in a latest written ruling, though his conviction within the homicide of his ex-girlfriend in 1999 once they had been in highschool nonetheless stands.
Syed’s sentence was modified underneath a comparatively new state regulation that gives a pathway to launch for individuals convicted of crimes dedicated once they had been minors. The modified sentence contains 5 years of supervised probation.
At a short listening to in Baltimore, Schiffer modified his probationary situations barely to allow him to journey to Washington DC and Virginia with out looking for particular permission from a probation agent. Syed, 43, has a job at Georgetown College’s Prisons and Justice Initiative. He additionally has household in Virginia.
Syed’s legal professional, Erica Suter, requested unsupervised probation on the listening to, however the decide determined to not go that far.
“I’m conscious that Mr Syed requested unsupervised probation, however given the aid that this courtroom has already granted on these terribly critical and tragic fees, I imagine I’ve proven extra consideration to him than anybody may have anticipated,” Schiffer mentioned.
The decide’s ruling adopted a February listening to that included emotional testimony from Syed and relations of the sufferer, Hae Min Lee, who was strangled and buried in a shallow grave in a Baltimore park.
Prosecutors and protection attorneys advised Schiffer that Syed doesn’t pose a danger to public security. The decide reminded Syed, who watched Friday’s proceedings on-line, that his suspended sentence nonetheless doubtlessly looms over him. He was sentenced in 2000 to life in jail plus 30 years for first-degree homicide and different fees.
“I hope Mr Syed, and I belief, that this would be the final time we see one another,” Schiffer mentioned. “In any other case, I don’t should let you know the period of time that’s hanging over your head.”
Syed, who was 17 when Lee was killed and has maintained his innocence, was launched from jail in 2022 after Baltimore prosecutors mentioned they’d uncovered issues with the case and moved to vacate his conviction. It was later reinstated on attraction.
Lee’s household and their legal professional mentioned previous wounds had been ripped open when Syed’s conviction was vacated by a former state’s legal professional. The household later succeeded in getting the conviction reinstated after difficult the ruling on procedural grounds, arguing they didn’t obtain correct discover to attend the listening to that freed Syed from jail, the place they participated solely via a video connection.
David Sanford, an legal professional for Lee’s household, mentioned Friday’s listening to “brings to an in depth the lengthy saga of Adnan Syed”. He mentioned the household was grateful to the courtroom for giving them “due respect all through these proceedings, permitting us to completely argue to the courtroom the sufferer’s place”.
“The household can be grateful to the Maryland supreme courtroom for its historic determination on this case, which grants victims explicit rights beforehand enshrined typically within the Maryland state structure,” Sanford mentioned. “Consequently, victims now have the suitable to be heard, the suitable to be current, and the suitable to meaningfully take part in prison justice proceedings.”
The present Baltimore state’s legal professional, Ivan Bates, who publicly raised doubts concerning the integrity of the conviction earlier than turning into the town’s high prosecutor, mentioned in February that his workplace believes within the jury’s verdict and has no plans to proceed investigating the case.
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