BALTIMORE — Hae Min Lee's family filed papers asking the appellate court for a new, public, evidentiary hearing in which all the evidence that supports the vacatur for Adnan Syed is publicly presented, according to the family's lawyer, Steve Kelly.
The papers say that "Mr. Lee was denied his rights to meaningfully participate in the vacatur proceeding. Mr. Lee was entitled to an opportunity to challenge the vacatur determination."
Young Lee was only provided a semblance of his rights according to the papers. The family attorney says they have a right to know what evidence in the trial would have led to a different outcome more than 20 years ago.
Lee and his legal team are arguing that they weren't provided enough notice before the hearing. They requested the hearing be delayed so that he could speak in person, but the judge denied that request.
The family takes issue with the manner in which Syed's sentence was vacated, calling it "hasty and haphazard."
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The Lee family say in the papers that their family continues to go through hardships because they were excluded from the vacatur process.
The papers were filed based on the decision in Antione v. State, claiming the Court of Special Appeals both can and should order a new hearing as the only effective remedy for the violations of the Lee family's victim rights.
The family's lawyer says the family has a right to provide a meaningful position on the evidence that led to Adnan Syed's release.
“The Lee family had a right to provide a meaningful position on the evidence that led to Adnan Syed’s release and to demand to know that evidence would have led to a different result. Maryland law entitles them to a new evidentiary hearing so they can understand why the man the state told them for 20 years murdered Hae was released in such a hasty and haphazard manner.”
