Judge hears conflicting arguments on Adnan Syed’s motion to reduce sentence

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A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge heard testimony Wednesday in Adnan Syed‘s hearing on his motion to reduce his sentence for his murder conviction, complete with conflicting accounts of Syed’s fitness as a candidate under the Juvenile Restoration Act.

Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer declined to issue a ruling Wednesday.

The hearing unfolded the day after Ivan Bates, state’s attorney for Baltimore City, announced that he was withdrawing his request to vacate Syed’s conviction. During the hearing, Bates said the court must consider both public safety and whether the interest of justice would be better served with a new sentence for Syed.

“I did not make the decision to withdraw this motion lightly, but it’s necessary to preserve the credibility of my office and maintain the public’s trust in the justice system,” Bates said in a news conference Wednesday after the hearing.

While Syed’s six witnesses Wednesday, including a forensic psychologist, inmates who were incarcerated with Syed, and Syed’s younger brother testified as to Syed’s low risk for re-offense and good behavior in and outside of prison, counsel for the victim’s family argued that a majority of the factors considered under the Juvenile Restoration Act go against granting Syed’s motion for a sentence reduction.

A Baltimore City Circuit Court jury convicted Syed in 2000 in the 1999 killing of his high school ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, who was found strangled to death and buried in a shallow grave in Baltimore’s Leakin Park one month after she went missing.

In 2021, Baltimore prosecutors reinvestigated the case at the urging of Syed’s lawyer and ultimately concluded that the evidence did not support Syed’s guilt.

Syed is asking the court to reduce his sentence, pursuant to the Juvenile Restoration Act, to time served, citing his reentry into society in 2022 and “law-abiding conduct” both in and outside of prison.

“Social media cannot take the place of the judicial system,” said David Sanford, counsel for Hae Min Lee’s family, referencing the popularity of Syed’s case which drew national attention in 2014 through the podcast Serial.

Sanford argued Syed was a “a few months shy of his 18th birthday” when Lee was murdered, and the gruesome nature of the crime weighs against Syed’s motion. Further, Sanford said, Syed’s lack of remorse and refusal to accept responsibility despite “overwhelming guilt” shows he has not been rehabilitated.

But witnesses for Syed testified he was different than other young men in prison, noting he did not want to be exposed to gangs or drugs, and never became involved in violence. Two former inmates previously incarcerated with Syed testified as to Syed’s importance in their lives, noting that he helped calm conflicts and is trustworthy.

Marc Howard, a professor at Georgetown University who founded the university’s Prisons and Justice Initiative where Syed is now employed as a program associate, testified Syed is an “invaluable” team member and serves as a “cultural bridge” to help understand prison life. Since Syed has worked with the program, Howard said there have been no issues or complaints about his performance.

Wednesday’s testimony also included Young Lee, brother of Hae Min Lee, and Lee’s mother who spoke in a recorded translated video.

Young Lee said the social media surrounding Syed’s case caused his family to be living in a “nightmare,” and added that while Syed can interact with his brother, Lee cannot.

“I don’t have a chance to see my sister,” Lee said. “I can’t have those conversations.”

Youn Wha Kim, Hae Min Lee’s mother, said that when she saw Syed coming out of court during his initial trial with a smile, she could not breathe, and the image of him smiling became a nightmare for her. She also called the police officers who investigated Lee’s case “incompetent” for failing to properly investigate her daughter’s body.

“Please don’t ever let this wrongful situation happen again,” Kim said. “Those who commit a crime should pay the price.”

The Juvenile Restoration Act, passed in 2021, prohibits courts from sentencing individuals to life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes committed when they were minors.

Erica Suter, counsel for Syed, said her client’s fight for justice continues.

“We are hopeful that the court will see what we’ve seen: that [Syed] is a walking demonstration of positive and a contributing member of society, and that he has spent his entire incarceration and the past two years demonstrating that he is worthy of a sentence reduction,” Suter said Wednesday after the hearing. “The original sentencing judge agrees that Adnan is worthy of a sentence reduction, and we are hopeful that this court will as well.”

Syed also spoke in court Wednesday, expressing gratitude to the court and hope that the court will grant him relief, while acknowledging Lee’s family.

“I never want to cause any pain,” Syed said, adding he will continue to live life in honor of his family.

In September 2022, the Baltimore State Attorney’s Office, at the time led by Marilyn Mosby, agreed to vacate Syed’s murder conviction after saying it found flaws in the original trial evidence and two handwritten notes said to reveal an alternative suspect who had reportedly said he would kill Hae Min. Prosecutors said the documents were never turned over to the defense, raising questions about the legitimacy of Syed’s conviction.

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office, then being led by Brian Frosh, raised questions about the note and said in legal filings that its meaning was open to interpretation. And Bates, in a motion filed Tuesday, said that after reviewing the motion filed by his predecessor, he concluded that it contained “false and misleading statements that undermine the integrity of the judicial process.”

That move represents a change of heart for Bates, who in 2018, while an unsuccessful candidate for the state’s attorney’s post, said he would drop the case against Syed.

Last year, in a 4-3 ruling, the Maryland Supreme Court reinstated Syed’s murder conviction and ordered a new vacatur hearing to allow the Lee family’s rights to be observed.