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Adnan Syed’s fight to prove his innocence continues as Baltimore prosecutors just withdrew a motion to vacate his sentence, as once tendered by a previous administration.
On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates filed the withdrawal in city court, as reviewed by Oxygen, just one day before Syed, 43, is expected to go before a judge in an effort to have his sentence reduced to time served, according to NBC Baltimore affiliate WBAL-TV. Bates’ actions undermine the decisions of former State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, claiming her motion to vacate Syed’s sentence contained “false and misleading statements.”
Bates said he “did not make this decision lightly,” noting that the criticisms were aimed at the previous motion, not necessarily at Syed’s guilt or innocence. In fact, the city’s top prosecutor openly supported the decision to drop the case against Syed when campaigning in 2018, as reported by The New York Times.
Prosecutors withdraw motion to reverse Adnan Syed’s murder conviction
“While I did not ask for this task, it was remanded to my office by the Supreme Court of Maryland; thus, we have a duty as Maryland-barred attorneys, prosecutors tasked with pursuing justice, and officers of the court to address false and misleading statements in the state’s legal filings — a duty that we take extremely seriously,” Bates stated. “As such, we cannot adopt the falsehoods and misleading statements in the motion to vacate judgment nor fail to bring them to the court’s attention.”
Mosby is currently serving 12 months of home confinement after being convicted in 2023 on federal charges of fraud and perjury unrelated to the case of Adnan Syed.
Who is Adnan Syed?
Adnan Syed served more than 20 years in prison for the 1999 strangulation homicide of his high school ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Hae Min Lee. Many came forward to advocate for the teen’s innocence following the release of the hit podcast Serial.
In 2022, Adnan was released from his life sentence, and prosecutors sought to overturn the conviction on the grounds of “unreliable” cell phone data and a Brady Violation, in which previous prosecutors allegedly failed to present alternate suspects, prosecutors said at the time.
Syed’s fight for innocence had already seen a boost in 2021 when Maryland passed the Juvenile Restoration Act (J.R.A.), which retroactively bans courts from imposing life-without-parole sentences onto minors (Syed was 17 when Lee was murdered).
However, a Maryland appeals court reinstated the sentence in 2023 after ruling that Lee’s family — namely her California-based brother, Young Lee — wasn’t given an ample heads-up about the hearing in which the case was overturned, thus depriving the victim’s relatives from attending in person. That decision was upheld in 2024.
In December 2024, Syed’s team filed a motion to reduce the sentence under the guidelines set forth by the J.R.A., according to WBAL-TV. The 2021 law allows convicted persons to seek relief after serving 20 years behind bars if the crimes were committed when the defendant was still a minor.
The reduction hearing is planned for Wednesday, February 26, 2024.
“There is no need to guess whether Mr. Syed can lead a law-abiding life because he has been doing just that for over two years,” his attorneys stated, according to NBC News.
What’s next for Adnan Syed?
Representing Syed, his attorney Erica J. Suter, who is also Director of the Innocence Project Clinic at the University of Baltimore Law School in Maryland, said Bates’ Office “got it wrong,” according to CNN. She vowed to keep her client’s freedom intact in light of Wednesday morning’s hearing.
“After spending 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Adnan is not bitter,” Suter said in a statement to CNN. “He is rebuilding a life for himself and his family while continuing to profess his innocence.”
News of the sentence reduction hearing is expected to be released soon.
