Family of victim in 'Serial' case seeks new court hearing

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — An attorney requested a new hearing on Friday on the motion that led to the release of Adnan Syed, whose murder conviction chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial” already has been overturned.

Steve Kelly, an attorney for the family of victim Hae Min Lee, filed the request in a legal brief in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, the state's second-highest court.

The new hearing would require the prosecutor to present any evidence supporting the motion and give Young Lee, who is Hae Min Lee's brother, the right to challenge the evidence and present his own.

The filing said Lee “lacked notice and a meaningful opportunity to participate,” and was excluded from a legal proceeding ”at which the state’s attorney and circuit court apparently decided the outcome."

“Nothing Mr. Lee might have said in opposition could have altered the result," the court filing said. "His statement was, at best, an empty ritual.”

Lee’s family has said it is not seeking to affect Syed’s release from prison in its appeal.

“Mr. Lee of course does not want to see a wrongly convicted man imprisoned, but it does no one justice for the court to make such pivotal decisions without the facts,” said Steve Kelly, an attorney for Lee's family.

Prosecutors moved to vacate Syed’s conviction in September, after a yearlong investigation. A Baltimore judge ordered a new trial and freed Syed from prison, but gave prosecutors 30 days to decide whether to dismiss the charges or proceed with a new trial. The judge ruled that the state had violated its legal obligation to share evidence that could have bolstered Syed’s defense.

Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced at an Oct. 11 news conference that her office had dismissed all...