Following his high-profile release last September, Adnan Syed’s murder conviction is now reinstated.
On Tuesday, a Maryland Appeals court ruled a new hearing will be held about the evidence used to vacate Syed’s conviction. This time, with Hae Min Lee’s family in the room.
The ruling found a lower court had violated the rights of Hae Min Lee’s Brother, Young Lee, who was only was only given one day’s notice to prepare for the hearing. The Lee family attorney, Steve Kelly called the decision a win for more than just his clients.
"We really see this as a great victory for victim’s rights," said Kelly, "Victims’ rights before were really a matter of convenience. No more. Victims’ rights are real and there are consequences for not affording them those rights," Kelly said.
"Too often judges are in such a hurry to rush through these depositions that they're listening to the prosecutors and the defense attorneys and are literally ignoring the interest in the voices of victims. That has to stop," said former state and federal prosecutor, Thiru Vignarajah.
Vignarajah said he’s represented victims placed in a similar situations, including the case of convicted arsonist Luther Trent.
Trent was given a plea deal after burning down his ex-girlfriend’s home with her and her roommates inside. As a result, he served less than six months behind bars, admitting to FOX45, he should have served more time.
"I shouldn’t be out right now," Trent said in an exclusive interview with FOX 45 last year.
About a month after that interview, a judge threw that plea deal out, ruling the victim’s rights were violated when they didn’t give their victim statements before sentencing.
"We know this is a high-volume jurisdiction where the dockets are clogged and there's a lot of cases to go through, but you don't sacrifice victims of violent crimes," said Vignarajah.
Vignarajah now hopes the spotlight on these high-profile cases will keep future victims from having to suffer in silence.
"The prosecutors, the police, the judges, the system is supposed to make sure that their voices are elevated, and unfortunately, that's not the way victims families feel in Baltimore right now," he said.