By Lauren del Valle, CNN
(CNN) — Adnan Syed will remain free despite his conviction for the 1999 murder of his high school ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, a Maryland judge ruled.
In a court order Thursday, Judge Jennifer Schiffer granted Syed a sentence reduction to time served, allowing Syed to remain free. Syed’s conviction was vacated in 2022 and he was released and has remained out of prison since, even though the Maryland Supreme Court upheld a lower appellate court’s decision to reinstate his conviction last year.
“After considering the entire record, the court concludes that the Defendant is not a danger to the public and that the interests of justice will be better served by a reduced sentence,” Schiffer wrote in the court order. Schiffer will officially impose the reduced sentence at a hearing to be held in the next two weeks.
The victory for Syed, however, is not tied to his innocence.
Syed’s attorneys petitioned the court last December for the sentence reduction under Maryland’s Juvenile Restoration Act, a 2021 state law allowing individuals who were minors at the time of their crimes and have served at least 20 years in prison to seek a reduced sentence. Syed was 17 at the time of Lee’s murder and served nearly 24 years in prison for the murder conviction.
The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office supported Syed’s sentence reduction though attorneys for Hae Min Lee’s family opposed his release, asking the court to deny his motion at a hearing last month.
Syed’s case garnered widespread notoriety after the 2014 “Serial” podcast raised questions about the conviction and Syed’s legal representation
The judge could’ve sent Syed back to prison to continue serving the life sentence he was issued in 2000.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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