Judge reduces Adnan Syed's sentence, allowing him to stay out of prison
Adnan Syed, center, is “not a danger to the public and that the interests of justice will be better served by a reduced sentence," said a Baltimore judge. (AP Photo/Brian Witte, File)
Adnan Syed, the subject of the Serial podcast, will be allowed to remain free after a Baltimore judge on Thursday agreed to effectively reduce his sentence to the time he had already spent in prison.
The ruling from Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer is a crucial victory for Syed in his lengthy legal battle to try to undo his decades-old murder conviction, which drew national attention after the first season of the Serial podcast highlighted possible problems with the case. In her 14-page decision, Schiffer wrote that she concluded Syed was “not a danger to the public and that the interests of justice will be better served by a reduced sentence.”
Syed was arrested in February 1999, when he was just 17 years old, for the killing of Hae Min Lee, an 18-year-old he had once dated. He was convicted the following year and sentenced to life in prison and fought a lengthy battle for his release.
In a statement, David Sanford, the Lee family’s lawyer, said: “Absolutely nothing changes the fact that Mr. Syed remains convicted of first-degree premeditated murder due to overwhelming direct and circumstantial evidence. We hope that one day Mr. Syed can summon the courage to take responsibility for his crime and express sincere remorse.” Sanford said there are no more legal options that the family can explore.
Erica J. Suter, Syed’s attorney and director of the Innocence Project Clinic at University of Baltimore Law School, said in a statement, “Today, we are focused on the joy and relief of this decision. Adnan is grateful that the Judge agreed with his motion to reduce his sentence under the Juvenile Restoration Act. … Adnan is committed to continuing to be a productive member of his community and living a life centered around his family.” The statement did not indicate whether Syed would continue to pursue avenues to have his conviction vacated. Last week, Syed’s team said in a statement they would “continue to fight to clear his name through all legal avenues available to him.”
Syed’s bid to win his freedom had been largely unsuccessful until October 2022, when then-Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby dropped the case, asserting Syed was wrongfully convicted. At the time, Mosby declared “the case is over.” Syed was freed from prison.
But the legal battle continued.
Lee’s family appealed the matter, arguing their rights were violated in how the court conducted the critical hearing at which prosecutors asked for the case to be thrown out. In 2023, an appellate court panel sided with them, reinstating Syed’s conviction and ordering a do-over of that hearing. The ruling was upheld by the Maryland Supreme Court the following year.
The passage of time put a new leader in charge of the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office: Ivan J. Bates, who late last month withdrew his office’s motion to throw out Syed’s conviction. In a filing, Bates’s office disagreed with Mosby’s assertions that “newly discovered evidence” undermined the jury finding Syed guilty of murder. But Bates indicated he would not seek to have Syed go back to prison, instead joining in his bid for a sentence reduction.
Bates said in a statement that the decision Thursday was “was a just outcome for a tragedy that took the life of a young woman whose family is forever altered.”
“I hope the Lee family can find peace and healing in the aftermath of this challenging experience,” Bates said. “My office is here to support them whenever they may need it.”
Schiffer resentenced Syed under the Juvenile Restoration Act (JRA), which allows people convicted as an adult for crimes they committed as a minor to seek new sentences. In her ruling, Schiffer noted Syed’s age at the time of the killing and that he had “maintained an outstanding institutional record” while incarcerated, completing 35 programs ranging from stress management to a legal assistance/paralegal certificate. Since his release, the judge noted, Syed had taken care of his parents and in-laws while maintaining a job at Georgetown University’s Prisons and Justice Initiative. But she also noted the pain the legal battle had taken on Lee’s family.
“This Court cannot fathom the anguish and heartbreak that the Lee family has suffered,” Schiffer wrote. “Each time they thought the legal case was over, something new happened and tore open old wounds.”
Under the JRA, judges are given 11 factors to consider in weighing whether to reduce a defendant’s sentence. In her opinion, Schiffer walked through them all, describing why they came out six in favor of reduction and five against.
Among the latter, actually, was Syed’s fine upbringing.
“The defendant and his two brothers were raised in a loving and stable home with two devoted parents,” Schiffer wrote. “While these life circumstances certainly set the defendant on a positive path, this factor weighs against granting him relief under the JRA. At the time he committed these horrific crimes, he didn’t do so out of desperation or lack of parenting. The Defendant’s family and community gave him every advantage in life, and he committed these terrible crimes despite his advantages.”
The brutality of the crime also weighed against the reduction. Factors weighing reduction included Syed’s excellent behavior record while incarcerated and his conduct since release.
“One does not have to speculate about the defendant’s maturity and fitness to reenter society because he has succeeded in the two and a half years since his release,” the judge wrote, adding she “is confident that the defendant is no longer a danger to public safety.”
And Schiffer returned to the fundamental underpinnings of the JRA: That when people are young they do things they wouldn’t do later in life.
“Simply put, when the Defendant committed the horrible crimes at issue, he did so with a brain that was not fully formed,” the judge wrote.
The judge said she would hold a brief Zoom hearing to impose the new sentence within two weeks.
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