Adnan Syed’s motion to reduce his sentence to time served in ‘Serial’ case backed by prosecutors

BALTIMORE — Baltimore prosecutors filed a motion supporting Adnan Syed’s recent request to have his sentence reduced to time served, which could ensure he remains free indefinitely as he awaits further court decisions in a decadeslong legal saga that amassed a large following from the hit podcast “Serial.” Syed was released from prison in 2022 after prosecutors asked a judge to overturn his murder conviction in the 1999 slaying of his high school ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. In it, State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said Syed’s request is “in the interest of justice.” “I truly believe Mr. Syed’s case is precisely what legislators envisioned when they crafted the Juvenile Restoration Act,” Bates said in a statement Monday. “That question regarding ultimate guilt or innocence needs to be resolved before any thought of reducing Mr. Syed’s sentence can be considered,” attorney David Sanford said in a statement. “Currently Mr. Syed remains a convicted murderer and nothing the State or Mr. Syed has ever presented calls that fact into question.” The case, which has been rife with legal twists and turns, has more recently pitted criminal justice reform efforts against the rights of crime victims and their families, whose voices are often at odds with a growing movement to acknowledge and correct longstanding issues such as systemic racism, police misconduct and prosecutorial missteps.