Attorneys for Adnan Syed, who is now free after being imprisoned more than two decades ago for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, will once again be arguing to keep his freedom in a case known to millions by the true-crime podcast “Serial.”

In a case fraught with legal twists and divided court rulings, arguments are set to begin Thursday in Maryland’s Supreme Court. Syed’s attorneys are appealing the reinstatement of his murder conviction by an appellate court, in a case that has broader ramifications for victims’ rights as well as Syed’s future.

Syed, 42, was released from prison in September 2022, when a Baltimore judge overturned his conviction. City prosecutors had dropped all charges after finding flaws in the evidence.

However, in March, the Appellate Court of Maryland ordered a redo of the hearing that enabled Syed to walk out a free man. The appellate court said the victim’s family didn’t receive adequate notice to attend the hearing in person, violating their right to be “treated with dignity and respect.”

The family of Hae Min Lee also is appealing to the state’s highest court, contending that crime victims in Maryland have a right to be heard and challenge the evidence in hearings like the one last year that vacated Syed’s conviction from 2000.

He faces at least the potential of being sent back to prison, a point his lawyers raised in court filings.

“The terrifying specter of reincarceration has hung over Mr. Syed’s head every day for the past ten months,” Syed’s lawyer, Erica Suter, wrote in a brief filed with the court in August.

The case could have consequences for victims’ rights. Although the appellate court ruled that Lee’s brother didn’t get sufficient notice to attend the hearing that vacated Syed’s conviction, the court also said state law doesn’t guarantee crime victims a “right to be heard” during the hearings. That decision falls to the presiding judge. Allowing victims to present evidence or otherwise engage substantively would “result in a huge shift in practice,” the judges said.

The Maryland Supreme Court isn’t expected to issue a ruling on Thursday. A written ruling will be filed on the court’s website, although it’s unclear when.

Syed’s attorneys say the Lee family did have sufficient notice about the hearing. They also argue that the family’s appeal is moot, because prosecutors decided not to charge Syed again after his conviction was vacated. His attorneys contend that even if the rights of Lee’s brother, Young Lee, were violated, he hasn’t demonstrated whether the alleged violation would have changed the hearing’s outcome.

Lee, who ended up speaking remotely at the hearing, was notified on a Friday afternoon that it would take place the following Monday. That was “insufficient time to reasonably allow Mr. Lee, who lived in California, to attend the hearing in person,” the appellate court ruled. Attorneys for Lee’s family have criticized a lack of transparency as well in the court proceedings that led to Syed’s release.

“Hae Min Lee’s murder has been at issue in Maryland’s courts for nearly a generation,” David Sanford, an attorney for the family, wrote in a court filing last month. He argued the state Supreme Court should send the case to another judge to decide whether to vacate the conviction or not.

This isn’t the first time Maryland’s highest court has taken up Syed’s protracted legal odyssey.

In 2019, a divided court ruled 4-3 to deny Syed a new trial. While the court agreed with a lower court that Syed’s legal counsel was deficient in failing to investigate an alibi witness, it disagreed that the deficiency prejudiced the case. That ruling came after a lower court ordered a retrial in 2016 on grounds that Syed’s attorney, Cristina Gutierrez, who died in 2004, didn’t contact an alibi witness and provided ineffective counsel.

In November 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision by Maryland’s top court.

More recently, Baltimore prosecutors went over Syed’s files under a Maryland law targeting so-called “juvenile lifers” because he was 17 when Hae Min Lee was found strangled to death and buried in a makeshift grave.

Prosecutors uncovered numerous problems, including alternative suspects and the unreliable evidence of cellphone tower data presented at trial. Instead of reconsidering his sentence, prosecutors filed a motion to vacate Syed’s conviction entirely.

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It’s just, you know, our family, we’ve suffered so much, you know, just over the past 20, almost 24 years and it’s just it’s really hard for us. It’s hard for my dad. It’s hard for my mom. It’s hard for my younger brother, you know, and it’s just, it seems like our family, we just always go unnoticed every time we go to court, we just always go unnoticed. And you know, we definitely understand that his family has suffered so much and they continue to suffer. And it just, it’s just that we suffer too. And we just hope that the court today, it just takes notice of that that we’re *** family that suffers also, you know, and we just, we just respect and we honor the fact that Hayes family suffers so much and we just we wish that they could get the answers that they could have. You know, we just we just hope that the court also recognizes that our family suffers too.

Appellate justices hear appeal from Lee family over Adnan Syed’s vacated murder conviction

Updated: 2:47 PM EST Feb 2, 2023

Maryland’s second-highest court heard arguments in the appeal of Adnan Syed’s vacated murder conviction.Video above: Adnan Syed tells 11 News: ‘Our family suffers, too’Attorneys for the family of Hae Min Lee appeared Thursday morning before the Appellate Court of Maryland to explain how the family feels it was left out of the process that ultimately led to the conviction being vacated in September. After review of DNA evidence in the 1999 case, the Baltimore City State’s attorney‘s Office requested the court drop the murder charges against Syed in October.Syed was emotional and surrounded by family on his way out of court. He spoke with 11 News, saying the proceedings have been hard on his family.”Our family, we’ve suffered so much, you know, just over the past 20, 24 years, and it’s just really hard for us. It’s hard for my dad, it’s hard for my mom, it’s hard for my younger brother, you know? And, it just, it seems like our family, we just always go unnoticed. Every time we go to court, we just always go unnoticed,” Syed said. “We definitely understand that Hae’s family is suffering so much, and they continue to suffer, and it’s just that we suffer, too. And, we just hope that the court today just takes notice of that, that we’re a family that suffers also, you know, and we just respect and we honor the fact that Hae’s family suffers so much, and we wish that they could get their answers that they could have, you know? We just hope that the court also recognizes that our family suffers, too.”Attorneys for Lee’s brother, Young Lee, filed the appeal motion in December 2022. They argued Thursday morning that the appellate court should reinstate Syed’s conviction, reconvene the hearing, and this time, ensure Young Lee can participate in person.”The process should work the way it was designed to work: In an open forum with evidence,” said David W. Sanford, the Lee family’s attorney.In September, Young Lee did get to speak in court, but via Zoom from California. However, at the time, the family said it had little notice of the hearing.Video below: AG supports appeal of Adnan Syed’s vacated murder conviction (January 2023)During Thursday morning’s hearing, the attorney for the Lee family told the appellate court that the Baltimore City court “failed to provide Young Lee the dignity and respect as the victim’s representative” in reference to the court hearing during which Syed’s charges were dropped.The attorneys argued prosecutors should not have the ability to drop charges after a conviction was previously upheld by an appeals court, which happened in the Syed case. The justices pressed attorneys for where that standing comes from. Asked whether Syed’s conviction should be re-instated until a new hearing can take place, Lee’s attorney said yes, and they asked for a new hearing on the conviction being vacated.In January, the Maryland attorney General’s Office backed the Lee family’s appeal, saying, in part: “The state agrees with Lee that he did not receive sufficient notice of the vacatur hearing, which led to the denial of his right to attend the hearing in person.”attorney Erica Suter, speaking on behalf of Syed, said the court should dismiss the appeal, calling it moot because the conviction was vacated, so there is no case.”What this court can do is confirm that the lower court’s decision will stand,” Suter said.She argued the amount of notice the Lee family received for the hearing was reasonable.At 10:30 a.m., the justices announced the case was submitted and the court would be in recess until 11 a.m.This report will be updated.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. —

Maryland’s second-highest court heard arguments in the appeal of Adnan Syed’s vacated murder conviction.

Video above: Adnan Syed tells 11 News: ‘Our family suffers, too’

Attorneys for the family of Hae Min Lee appeared Thursday morning before the Appellate Court of Maryland to explain how the family feels it was left out of the process that ultimately led to the conviction being vacated in September. After review of DNA evidence in the 1999 case, the Baltimore City State’s attorney‘s Office requested the court drop the murder charges against Syed in October.

Syed was emotional and surrounded by family on his way out of court. He spoke with 11 News, saying the proceedings have been hard on his family.

“Our family, we’ve suffered so much, you know, just over the past 20, 24 years, and it’s just really hard for us. It’s hard for my dad, it’s hard for my mom, it’s hard for my younger brother, you know? And, it just, it seems like our family, we just always go unnoticed. Every time we go to court, we just always go unnoticed,” Syed said. “We definitely understand that Hae’s family is suffering so much, and they continue to suffer, and it’s just that we suffer, too. And, we just hope that the court today just takes notice of that, that we’re a family that suffers also, you know, and we just respect and we honor the fact that Hae’s family suffers so much, and we wish that they could get their answers that they could have, you know? We just hope that the court also recognizes that our family suffers, too.”

Attorneys for Lee’s brother, Young Lee, filed the appeal motion in December 2022. They argued Thursday morning that the appellate court should reinstate Syed’s conviction, reconvene the hearing, and this time, ensure Young Lee can participate in person.

“The process should work the way it was designed to work: In an open forum with evidence,” said David W. Sanford, the Lee family’s attorney.

In September, Young Lee did get to speak in court, but via Zoom from California. However, at the time, the family said it had little notice of the hearing.

Video below: AG supports appeal of Adnan Syed’s vacated murder conviction (January 2023)

During Thursday morning’s hearing, the attorney for the Lee family told the appellate court that the Baltimore City court “failed to provide Young Lee the dignity and respect as the victim’s representative” in reference to the court hearing during which Syed’s charges were dropped.

The attorneys argued prosecutors should not have the ability to drop charges after a conviction was previously upheld by an appeals court, which happened in the Syed case. The justices pressed attorneys for where that standing comes from.

Asked whether Syed’s conviction should be re-instated until a new hearing can take place, Lee’s attorney said yes, and they asked for a new hearing on the conviction being vacated.

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RIGHT NOW: this is Adnan Syed the son. He is alongside his father outside the Appellate Court of Maryland, listening to his attorney brief reporters after a hearing this morning. @wbaltv11 pic.twitter.com/Au3eIVW8bQ

— Kate Amara (@kateamaraWBAL) February 2, 2023

In January, the Maryland attorney General’s Office backed the Lee family’s appeal, saying, in part: “The state agrees with Lee that he did not receive sufficient notice of the vacatur hearing, which led to the denial of his right to attend the hearing in person.”

attorney Erica Suter, speaking on behalf of Syed, said the court should dismiss the appeal, calling it moot because the conviction was vacated, so there is no case.

“What this court can do is confirm that the lower court’s decision will stand,” Suter said.

She argued the amount of notice the Lee family received for the hearing was reasonable.

At 10:30 a.m., the justices announced the case was submitted and the court would be in recess until 11 a.m.

This report will be updated.

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