A Maryland judge has brought a lengthy and complex legal journey to a conclusion by officially modifying the sentence of Adnan Syed. Judge Jennifer Schiffer sentenced Syed on Friday to the time he has already served in prison. Syedโs case gained worldwide notoriety thanks to the true-crime podcast โSerial,โ which highlighted the twists and turns of his legal battles.
Although Judge Schiffer decided last week in writing that Syed would remain free, his 1999 conviction for murder still stands. He was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend during their high school years. Under a relatively new Maryland law, his sentence was altered to allow for release due to offenses committed as a minor. Syed will now be under five years of supervised probation.
In a brief hearing in Baltimore, adjustments were made to Syedโs probationary terms, granting him the freedom to travel to Washington, D.C., and Virginia, without needing explicit permission from his probation officer. Syed, now 43 years old, works at Georgetown Universityโs Prisons and Justice Initiative, and he has family residing in Virginia. Syedโs lawyer, Erica Suter, sought unsupervised probation, but the judge did not agree to this request.
โI aim to extend more leniency to Mr. Syed, given the significant nature of the charges he faced,โ stated Schiffer, as she explained her judgment. Her decision followed a hearing in February where emotional testimonies were presented by both Syed and the relatives of the victim, Hae Min Lee, who was found strangled and buried in a Baltimore park.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys concurred that Syed does not pose a threat to public safety. Syed, participating in Fridayโs proceedings online, was reminded by the judge that his original life sentence plus 30 years remains suspended, a result of being convicted in 2000 for first-degree murder and related crimes.
โThis should be our last meeting,โ Schiffer told Syed. โOtherwise, youโre aware of the severe penalty still hanging over you.โ Syed, who was 17 when Hae Min Lee was murdered, was freed from prison in 2022. Baltimore prosecutors discovered issues in the case, which led to his conviction being vacated but subsequently reinstated on appeal.
The family of Lee, represented by attorney David Sanford, expressed that the vacating of Syedโs conviction reopened old wounds. They succeeded in having the conviction reinstated by challenging the procedural handling of their notice to attend the hearing, which led to Syedโs release.
Sanford stated that Fridayโs hearing concluded โthe long saga of Adnan Syedโ and lauded the court for respecting the victimโs voice throughout the proceedings, acknowledging the historical decision by the Maryland Supreme Court that grants victims enhanced rights in criminal justice processes.
Baltimoreโs current stateโs attorney, Ivan Bates, had earlier questioned the integrity of the conviction before assuming his role. He has since affirmed the officeโs belief in the juryโs original verdict and stated there are no plans to reopen the investigation.