Judges hear appeal from victim’s family

The protracted legal odyssey of Adnan Syed, whose murder case rose to prominence through the hit podcast “Serial,” marked its latest development Thursday when a Maryland appeals court considered whether the victim’s family experienced improper treatment when a Baltimore court overturned Syed’s conviction last year, allowing his release after more than two decades behind bars.

The Appellate Court of Maryland will issue a ruling on the matter within 90 days.

Surviving relatives of Hae Min Lee, Syed’s ex-girlfriend and high school classmate who was strangled to death and found buried in a makeshift grave in 1999, contend their rights were violated because they didn’t receive enough notice about the court hearing that won Syed his freedom. They requested a redo of the September hearing — which would likely require reinstating Syed’s conviction — to allow Lee’s brother a meaningful opportunity to participate.

The answer to their request could have significant implications, both for Syed’s future and, more broadly, for the role of crime victims in the Maryland court system.

“We’re not on a campaign to have Adnan Syed put back in jail,” attorney David Sanford, who represents the Lee family, said on the courthouse steps following the hearing. “This is about respecting victims and their representatives.”

Sanford said the lower court should have to hold a more substantive hearing and better communicate its reasoning for overturning Syed’s conviction “so that the world can know the basis for releasing Adnan Syed.”

But granting crime victims and their attorneys the power to actively participate in such evidentiary hearings would vastly expand their influence, said Syed’s attorney, Erica Suter.