The family of Hae Min Lee, whose murder gripped millions of people after appearing on the series podcast, have demanded to see the ‘new evidence’ that led to Adnan Syed’s release from prison.
Lee, 18, was strangled to death and buried in a shallow grave in Baltimore’s Leakin Park in 1999. Her former high school boyfriend Syed, now 41, was jailed for the crime.
But in September, a judge ordered Syed’s release from his life sentence after serving 23 years because they could no longer justify keeping him locked up based on new information.
The sensational move came after investigators revealed there are two other murder suspects in the case who were not thoroughly investigated at the time.
Lee’s family says they were only told the state planned to vacate Syed’s sentence two days before they filed it on Sept. 14, despite a “year-long” investigation.
And Lee’s brother was only informed of the in-person hearing – where Syed was sensationally released from prison – a business day before it took place.
Hae Min Lee, 18, was strangled to death and buried in a shallow grave in Baltimore’s Leakin Park in 1999. Her former high school boyfriend Syed, now 41, was found guilty
The 41-year-old was serving a life sentence after he was convicted in 2000 of strangling Hae Min Lee and burying her body in a shallow grave in Baltimore’s Leakin Park
Hae Min Lee’s brother and mother in the photo after her tragic death
The family is now asking Maryland’s intermediate appeals court to halt Adnan Syed’s trial while they appeal the judge’s actions in letting him go
Her brother, Young, wanted to attend the hearing in Baltimore, but he could not travel from California on such short notice, their attorney said.
Other than the ‘late’ announcement, the family was told no details about the new evidence or two new suspects who ultimately helped get Lee’s convicted killer out of prison.
The family is now asking the Maryland Intermediate Court of Appeals to halt Adnan Syed’s trial while they appeal the judge’s actions on the extradition request.
The proposal, seen by DailyMail.com, says: ‘Mr. Lee has the right to appeal the state’s failure to give him reasonable notice of the motion to vacate and the state’s failure to comply with the Maryland Declaration of Rights’ mandate to treat victims with “dignity, respect and sensitivity”.
Steve Kelly, attorney for the Lee family, told DailyMail.com: ‘Yesterday, Hae Min Lee’s family filed a motion with the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to stay all proceedings in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City pending the outcome of their appeal was postponed.
‘The Lee family does not seek, through this decision or through the appeal, to influence Mr. Syed’s release from custody.
“If the wrong person has been behind bars for 23 years, the Lee family and the rest of the world want to understand what new evidence has led to that conclusion.
‘If Mr. Syed has been wrongfully convicted of Hae Min Lee’s murder, the state of Maryland would have to take responsibility for the extraordinary miscarriage of justice and make every effort to bring the actual killer to justice.
“The Lee family deserves at least this much.”
The Korean-American girl was also a scholar at school, as well as an athlete who wanted to be an optician
Bread for tears: Youn Wha Kim is pictured crying as her daughter’s killer is sentenced in 2000
Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn overturned Syed’s conviction on September 19.
Phinn ordered a new trial, but prosecutors were given 30 days — until Oct. 18 — to dismiss the charges or proceed with a new trial.
This means that within the next two weeks, Syed could be acquitted of the crime.
On February 25, 2000, a jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City returned guilty verdicts against Syed for first degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and false imprisonment.
During her sentencing in June 2000, the victim’s Korean mother, Youn Wha Kim, said she moved her family to America so she could give her children a ‘decent education and a decent future’.
She told the court: ‘I want to forgive Adnan Syed but right now I just don’t know how I could.
‘When I die, my daughter dies with me. As long as I live, my daughter is buried in my heart.’
Syed’s case was relatively unknown until investigative journalist Sarah Koenig began a deep dive into the story in 2014 on the podcast Serial.
A collage of photographs of Hai Min Lee and her friends was exhibited at Lee’s memorial service on March 11, 1999
Lee broke up with Syed around December 1999, and she claimed she did not take the heartbreaking news well
Investigative journalist Sarah Koenig (right) outside the court yesterday when the man convicted of murder was released
In the clips, she sensationally wanted to speak to Syed in prison – who claimed, as he has from the beginning, that he is not guilty.
Week after week, the award-winning podcast captivated millions of listeners worldwide who became invested in Syed’s cause.
The reaction has been polarizing. Some fans of the podcast believed he was innocent and launched the Free Adnan movement, while others believed it vindicated the 2000 verdict.
The podcast was purchased by the New York Times in 2020.
Deirdre Enright, law professor and founder of the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia School of Law, said: ‘Adnan Syed would be nowhere if Sarah Koenig hadn’t stepped in and turned him into a national spectacle.
“Like most, he would have been alone.”
Since it went viral on Serial, other media outlets have tried to unpack the case.
HBO notably released a four-part documentary beginning in March 2019 called The Case Against Adnan Syed.
Among interviews with people close to the case, the victim and the killer, it revealed that DNA testing conducted at the request of Mr. Syed’s new lawyers did not find anyone else’s DNA on Ms Lee’s body or belongings.