'Serial' podcast subject conviction upheld

The top court in the US state of Maryland on Friday upheld a ruling by a lower court reinstating the conviction of the man at the center of the hit podcast "Serial, who had served more than 20 years in prison for his ex-girlfriend's murder.

Adnan Syed, 43, whose case received worldwide attention through the podcast, had been serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, but was released in 2022 after Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn vacated his conviction.

A Maryland appeals court reinstated his conviction in March of last year, however, saying that the rights of Lee's brother, Young Lee, who lives in California, had been violated because he had not been given adequate time to attend that hearing in person. The brother has nothing to do with the case.

The Maryland Supreme Court upheld that decision on Friday and ordered the circuit court to conduct a new hearing on the motion vacating Syed's conviction.

"In an effort to remedy what they perceived to be an injustice to Mr. Syed, the prosecutor and the circuit court worked an injustice against Mr. Lee by failing to treat him with dignity, respect, and sensitivity," the Supreme Court said.

It said the "remedy is to reinstate Mr. Syed's convictions and to remand the case to the circuit court for further proceedings."

Syed has been free since his September 2022 release from prison and the Maryland Supreme Court said he did not have to return to jail while the legal proceedings move forward.

Lee's body was found buried in February 1999 in a shallow grave in the woods of Baltimore, Maryland. The 18-year-old had been strangled.