Serial podcast's Adnan Syed has murder charge reinstated

The murder conviction of Adnan Syed, whose case featured in the podcast "Serial", has been reinstated.

Syed was found guilty of the 1999 killing of his former girlfriend Hae Min Lee in a case that has since captured international attention.

After an investigation identified problems with the case, a circuit court judge last year vacated Syed's conviction in the murder of Hae Min Lee and ordered his release. He had served more than 20 years in prison.

Though Syed's conviction has been reinstated, he will not be taken back into custody.

On Tuesday, a Maryland appellate court panel, in a 2-1 decision, ordered a new hearing into the matter, saying the lower court had violated the right of the victim's family to attend a critical hearing in the case.

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,” and required him to attend the hearing remotely.

"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.

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.”

The family had asked the court for a redo of the September hearing that led to Syed's release.