Serial: Adnan Syed's murder conviction reinstated

A US court has reinstated Adnan Syed's murder conviction six months after a judge ordered his release from prison.

However Syed, who featured in the hit true crime podcast Serial, will not be taken back into custody, officials in Baltimore, Maryland, said.

In 2000, Syed was found guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. The conviction was quashed last September, after becoming a high-profile case on the back of the podcast.

However, Ms Lee's family said they would appeal the decision, and, on Tuesday, a court ruled that the conviction would be reinstated in light of the family not having enough time to attend September's hearing in person.

A new hearing has now been ordered to take place.

In a 2-1 decision, the Appellate Court of Maryland ruled the state's law provides victims with the right to prior notice of the hearing on a motion to return from holidays, and that right was violated in the case of Ms Lee's family.

The court ruled that giving her brother, Young Lee, only one business day before the hearing was "insufficient time to reasonably allow Mr Lee, who lived in California, to attend the hearing in person". He instead attended virtually.

"Allowing a victim entitled to attend a court proceeding to attend in person, when the victim makes that request and all other persons involved in the hearing appear in person, is consistent with the constitutional requirement that victims be treated with dignity and respect," the court ruled.

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The court ruled it is obligated to remedy the lower court's violations, "as long we can do so without violating Mr Syed's right to be free from double jeopardy".

"We can do that, and accordingly, we vacate the circuit court's order vacating Mr Syed's convictions, which results in the reinstatement of the original convictions and sentence," the ruling said.

"We remand for a new, legally compliant, and transparent hearing on the motion to vacate, where Mr Lee is given notice of the hearing that is sufficient to allow him to attend in person, evidence supporting the motion to vacate is presented, and the court states its reasons in support of its decision."

Mr Syed, who has always maintained his innocence, became the subject of international interest following the debut of Serial in 2014, a trailblazing podcast which reignited worldwide interest in the true crime genre.

The first series of the podcast extensively detailed Ms Min Lee's murder and Mr Syed's trial.

Although it made no definitive findings that could have unequivocally proved Mr Syed's innocence, it did highlight multiple flaws in the way the police, the justice system and Mr Syed's own lawyers handled the case.

The open-ended conclusion to the podcast spawned a huge debate about the case and the wider US justice system.

Many listeners believed Mr Syed was innocent based on the information the podcast presented, and went on to campaign for his release.

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