Brother of victim in ‘Serial’ case will appeal overturning of Adnan Syed conviction

The brother of Hae Min Lee — whose murder was the focus of the first season of the hit podcast “Serial” — plans to appeal a Baltimore judge’s recent decision to overturn the conviction of Adnan Syed.

Young Lee filed a notice of appeal on Wednesday, just over a week after Maryland Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn vacated Syed’s conviction. 

Lee’s lawyer Steve Kelly said in a statement that Lee is appealing over “violations of his family’s right to meaningfully participate” in the hearing that led to Syed’s conviction being vacated.

Syed was convicted in 2000 of killing Hae Min Lee, his ex-girlfriend, and burying her body in Baltimore’s Leakin Park. However, Syed has long maintained his innocence and repeatedly pushed for a retrial.

The popular “Serial” podcast brought the case to the public’s attention with its first season in 2014, calling into question whether Syed had received a fair trial.

A Maryland judge vacated Syed’s conviction in 2016, and a special appeals court granted him a new trial in 2018. However, the Maryland Supreme Court denied the trial request upon appeal.

After agreeing to conduct new DNA testing in March of this year, prosecutors asked the court earlier this month to throw out Syed’s conviction. Phinn vacated the conviction last week, noting that evidence was improperly withheld in Syed’s case and that prosecutors had discovered new evidence.

Updated at 3:27 p.m.