BALTIMORE — The Maryland Court of Special Appeals is ordering Hae Min Lee’s family to explain in writing within 15 days why their appeal of a trial judge’s decision to overturn Adnan Syed’s murder conviction should continue, given that the state dropped Syed’s charges Tuesday.
The Lee family, led by Hae Min Lee’s brother Young Lee, is appealing Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn’s Sept. 19 decision to overturn Syed’s conviction on the grounds they weren’t given enough notice to reasonably participate in that hearing. In Maryland, victims of crime and their families have some rights to participate in the criminal cases involving them, although there is debate as to exactly what those rights are in certain cases.
Syed, whose legal case rose to prominence after the hit podcast “Serial” and other media about him, was convicted in 2000 in Lee’s death. The pair dated in high school.
