Adnan Syed’s lawyers seek to reduce his prison sentence

— Attorneys for Adnan Syed, whose complex legal case was chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial,” are seeking to have his prison sentence reduced as he awaits further court decisions. But in August, Maryland’s Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that reinstated Syed’s conviction while allowing him to remain free pending a new hearing about whether he should have been released. “This filing is a small step toward ensuring that Adnan’s custody status is stabilized and his freedom is safeguarded,” said Erica Suter, Syed’s attorney and an assistant public defender who directs the Innocence Project Clinic at University of Baltimore Law School. David Sanford, an attorney who represents Lee’s family, said in a statement Monday that “if there is new and compelling evidence to support vacating the conviction of Adnan Syed, we will be the first to call for Mr. Syed’s freedom.” However, he said the state has not “presented a shred of new, let alone compelling, evidence which would warrant overturning a murder conviction that has withstood appeals for over two decades.” “The State of Maryland engaged in a charade in 2022: it recycled old evidence and, in the process, bamboozled the trial court and the public into believing that Mr. Syed was likely innocent,” Sanford said, adding that attorneys will confer with the family and present their position in court in the days ahead.