BALTIMORE — Wednesday, Hae Min Lee's family filed a motion in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to put Adnan Syed's case on hold while they appeal.
In the motion, Hae Min Lee's brother asked courts to put legal proceedings on hold because the family was not given enough notice about the hearing to overturn Syed's conviction.
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The family isn't looking to impact Syed's release from custody, however they want to understand what new evidence led to this conclusion according to the family's lawyer Steve Kelly.
Kelly sent this statement to WMAR-2 News:
Today Hae Min Lee’s family filed a motion in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals seeking to stay all proceedings in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City pending the outcome of their appeal.”
On September 28th, the Lee family filed a notice of appeal. The appeal seeks to remedy the victim’s rights violations that occurred when the Lee family was not provided with adequate notice as to the hearing and/or with the new evidence that caused the state to reverse its position of more than 20 years on Mr. Syed’s conviction.
The Lee family is not seeking, through this motion or through the appeal, to impact 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 for Hae Min Lee’s murder, the state of Maryland would need to take responsibility for that extraordinary miscarriage of justice and would need to do everything possible to bring the actual killer to justice. The Lee family deserves at least that much.
In September, a Baltimore judge vacated Syed's murder conviction from more than 20 years ago. He was serving a life sentence for the murder of his high school girlfriend, whose body was discovered in Leakin Park.
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Lee's family said they had little notice of the hearing, but the judge said their virtual statements were sufficient.
Under Maryland law, The Baltimore State's Attorney's Office has 30 days to either dismiss the charges against Syed or proceed with a new trial.
