Latest news with #CityCircuitCourt
CBS News
14-03-2025
- CBS News
Adnan Syed to formally be re-sentenced after judge ruled no more prison time for 1999 murder
Adnan Syed will be formally re-sentenced on Friday, March 14, just over a week after a judge ruled he should not serve any more prison time for the murder conviction of Hae Min Lee, his high school girlfriend who was found dead in Baltimore's Leakin Park in 1999. Syed, whose murder case was highlighted in the first season of the true-crime podcast "Serial," was re-sentenced to the 20-plus years he has already served for his 2000 conviction, plus five years of probation. Syed remains convicted of first-degree murder and other offenses. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer determined on March 6 that Syed"is not a danger to the public" and that the "interests of justice will be better served by a reduced sentence." The judge's ruling was made under the Juvenile Restoration Act, a Maryland law that permits individuals who have served at least 20 years in prison for crimes committed as minors to seek a modified sentence. Adnan Syed's murder conviction Syed was 17 at the time of Lee's 1999 murder. He served 23 years in prison before his conviction was vacated in 2022. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2000, but has been out of prison since 2022, when Baltimore prosecutors moved to vacate his conviction over unreliable evidence. His murder conviction was reinstated in March 2023, after the Maryland Appellate Court found the circuit court violated the rights of Young Lee, Hae Min Lee's brother. Justices said that insufficient notice was given to Lee's family about the vacatur hearing. Just before the re-sentencing hearing, Bates said his office was withdrawing their motion to vacate Syed's murder conviction, meaning the conviction stands regardless of whether Syed's sentence was reduced. Bates said former City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's decision to vacate Syed's conviction was based on "false and misleading statements that undermine the integrity of the judicial process." Bates then apologized to Lee's family. "I would like to offer Mr. Lee and his entire family an apology for how you were treated during this process," Bates said. "It's not indicative of what this office is. We recognize the hurt and the pain that your family has gone through. We do say we are sorry about that."
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Adnan Syed Will Not Return to Prison After 2000 Murder Conviction
Originally appeared on E! Online Adnan Syed will not see the inside of a prison cell following his 2022 release. After years of the 43-year-old's 2000 murder conviction of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee being overturned and reinstated, he will not be going back to prison, a judge confirmed in documents obtained by NBC News. "After considering the entire record," Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer wrote in her March 6 ruling, "the court concludes that the Defendant is not a danger to the public and that the interests of justice will be better served by a reduced sentence." Instead, Syed—whose conviction was reinstated by Maryland's Court of Appeals in March 2023 after it was overturned in 2022 for the second time—will remain on five years of supervised release under Maryland's Juvenile Restoration Act since he was 17 at the time of Lee's killing. (He is still convicted of first-degree premeditated murder.) More from E! Online Stranded NASA Astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore's Teen Daughter Breaks Silence on Debacle Millie Bobby Brown Reveals Her Real Name—and It's Not What You'd Expect Teddi Mellencamp Shares More Tumors Were Found in Her Brain, 2 More in Lungs Amid Cancer Battle Meanwhile, his attorney Erica Suter praised the judge's decision in a statement to the outlet since Syed—who was serving a life sentence in prison and an additional 30 years after his 2000 conviction—was a "model candidate for a sentence reduction" due to "his accomplishments in prison and his work in the community since release." However, the Lee family's attorney emphasized that despite Syed being free, he is still convicted of her murder. On behalf of the family, David Sanford said in a statement, "We hope that one day Mr. Syed can summon the courage to take responsibility for his crime and express sincere remorse." Syed's case gained traction after the Serial podcast cast doubt on his conviction in 2014. In 2016, a Circuit Court judge granted him a new trial after his conviction was vacated, but the Maryland Court of Appeals ultimately denied the trial after Maryland's attorney general appealed the decision. But six years later, the chance of freedom came up again after City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn ruled in 2022 that Syed's murder, kidnapping, robbery and false imprisonment convictions be vacated, per documents obtained by NBC News at the time. Her decision was made on the grounds that Syed's conviction was flawed. Phinn wrote that trial prosecutors did not properly turn over evidence to defense lawyers that could've proven someone else killed Lee. She noted that the uncovered evidence would have added a "substantial and significant probability that the result would have been different." However, the conviction was reinstated less than a year later after Lee's family filed a notice of appeal requesting to do so since they were not provided sufficient notice at the hearing that led to his release. "We are equally pleased that the Appellate Court is directing the lower court to conduct a transparent hearing where the evidence will be presented in open court," Lee's family said in a statement to NBC News, "and the court's decision will be based on evidence for the world to see." Now, read on to learn more about the case and how a podcast may have changed its outcome. (E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal Family.) For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
CBS News
06-03-2025
- CBS News
Adnan Syed will not serve more prison time for Hae Min Lee's 1999 murder, judge rules
Adnan Syed will not spend any additional time in prison after being resentenced for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, a case that gained national attention when it was featured in the "Serial" podcast in 2014, according to The Baltimore Banner. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer made the ruling more than a week following Syed's Feb. 26 hearing under the Juvenile Restoration Act, a Maryland law that permits individuals who have served at least 20 years in prison for crimes committed as minors to seek a modified sentence. Syed was 17 at the time of Lee's murder and served more than 20 years in prison after he was convicted in 2000. He will be on probation for five years. Syed, now 43, has been out of prison since 2022 after his original conviction was vacated. It was later reinstated amid a series of legal challenges. The years-long legal battle involved a murder conviction, 20 years behind bars for Syed, his eventual release and several court appeals. The murder of Hae Min Lee Syed was convicted in 2000 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend and high school classmate Hae Min Lee. Both Syed and Lee attended Woodlawn High School in Baltimore. Lee went missing during her senior year in January 1999, and her body was found weeks later in Baltimore's Leakin Park. Syed was 17 at the time. During a six-week trial, prosecutors argued that Syed planned Lee's murder after she broke up with him. According to attorneys and witnesses, Syed strangled Lee to death, then he and a friend disposed of her body in a shallow grave. Syed was convicted of murder, kidnapping and false imprisonment and was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. "Serial" podcast changes public perception In 2014, the true-crime podcast "Serial" explored Syed's case in its first season. The podcast, which had millions of listeners at the time, raised questions about the evidence and witnesses in the trial. The podcast raised doubts about one of the prosecution's key witnesses, a drug dealer named Jay Wilds, who claimed he was the one who helped Syed bury Lee's body. It also explored the effectiveness of Syed's attorney, who was later disbarred. The podcast further questioned why another student, who could have provided an alibi for Syed, was never interviewed by his lawyer or asked to testify. "Serial" fans donated more than $80,000 to Syed's legal fund. Fight for retrial In 2015, a Maryland appeals court said they would review Syed's murder conviction. His new attorney argued that Syed's former attorney Christina Gutierrez failed to interview Syed's classmate Asia McClain who said she was with him in a library around the time of Lee's death. In a letter to Syed after his arrest, McClain offered to speak with investigators and mentioned two other witnesses who she said saw Syed in the library. "It is hard to imagine that Gutierrez could have done anything worse than failing to pick up the phone and call Syed's witness," Syed's appeals attorney wrote in a filing. By the end of 2015, a judge agreed to reopen Syed's case and in 2016, his conviction was vacated and he was granted a new trial. The state continued to fight the decision for about two years, reinstating Syed's conviction in 2019, and leading his lawyers to file an Amicus Brief at the U.S. Supreme Court. In the brief, Syed's defense team argued that the Maryland Court of Appeals' decision to reinstate his murder conviction "will impact criminal defendants and, in particular, habeas petitioners, far beyond Maryland's borders." The Supreme Court declined to hear Syed's case. Motion to vacate conviction After the Juvenile Restoration Act passed in 2021, Syed's defense team approached former Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby and requested that his sentence be reviewed. The Juvenile Restoration Act allowed individuals who were convicted of crimes committed while they were minors to request a modified sentence after they served at least 20 years in prison. Mosby ordered additional DNA tests with forensic technology that was not available at the time of the initial investigation and trial. In 2022, Mosby filed a motion to vacate Syed's murder conviction after tests found trace levels of male DNA under Lee's fingernails and on her shirt. "The swabs from the right fingernail and shirt were then analyzed with a genotyping kit that targets male Y-chromosome STR DNA," Mosby's office said in a motion. "However, no useful typing results were obtained from this analysis." The new investigation revealed evidence against two unnamed suspects and revealed that Lee's car was parked behind the home of one of the suspects, according to the motion. Syed was released from prison in September 2022 after a judge vacated his murder conviction; he spent more than 20 years incarcerated. Shortly after, prosecutors dropped the charges against him when DNA tests excluded him as a suspect in the murder. Conviction reinstated, appeal moves forward Hae Min Lee's family filed an appeal to reverse the decision. After several attempts, a court ruled the appeal could move forward. Five months after Syed was freed from prison and cleared of charges, his murder conviction was reinstated. His defense team brought the case to the Maryland Supreme Court and his conviction was put on hold as they decided whether to hear his appeal. As the case dragged on through 2023, exonerees expressed support for Syed and Lee's family and called on the court to hear the case. In 2024, the Maryland Supreme Court upheld a decision to reinstate Syed's conviction, sending the case back to a lower court. By the end of 2024, Syed's attorneys requested a reduced sentence. Syed remained out of prison since being released in 2022. As the court considered resentencing in 2025, Baltimore State's Attorney Ivan Bates withdrew a motion to vacate Syed's conviction, leaving his murder conviction in place. Bates said his predecessor, Mosby's motion to vacate was based on "false and misleading statements that undermine the integrity of the judicial process." "While I did not ask for this task, it was remanded to my office by the Supreme Court of Maryland; thus, we have a duty as Maryland-barred attorneys, prosecutors tasked with pursuing justice, and officers of the Court to address false and misleading statements in the State's legal filings - a duty that we take extremely seriously," Bates added.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State, Baltimore sue Glock for rise in modified guns that function like ‘illegal machine guns'
Three Glock 17 handguns lay on a table during a U.S. Army training exercise in Belgium this photo from 2018. (Photo by Pierre-Etienne Courtejoie/U.S. Army) The state and the city of Baltimore sued gun maker Glock on Wednesday for its failure to stop the rising trend of its handguns being modified into machine-gun-like weapons used in violent crimes. The lawsuit, filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court, asks the court to stop the sale and distribution of Glocks in Maryland until the company changes the design of its handguns to be more resistant to modifications that let them 'fire fully automatically — that is, to operate like a machine gun.' 'Unfortunately, we see the proliferation of automatic sears or Glock switches in our communities,' Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) said at a virtual news conference announcing the suit. 'These attachments, primarily used on Glocks and ghost guns, are able to turn a basic firearm into an illegal automatic machine gun that can fire as fast or faster than military grade firearms.' Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said the lawsuit demands 'one, a court order banning Glock from selling and manufacturing these pistols in Maryland; two, a court order forcing Glock to implement reasonable safety measures; and three, restitution to hold Glock accountable for its role in Maryland's gun violence crisis.' Brown said it's the first court challenge the 2024 filed under the state's 2024 Gun Industry Accountability Act, which allows prosecutors to sue against a firearm manufacturer for public nuisance by knowingly maintaining or contributing to public harm through the sale or distribution of firearms. 'The General Assembly gave us the tools to fight back against reckless corporate behavior and today we use them,' Brown said. 'Glock could have designed its pistols to prevent auto sears from working — they chose not to. That choice costs lives.' Automatic sears are small pieces of metal or plastic that can be installed in a handgun in minutes and let it shoot continuously with one trigger pull. The result is a machine-gun like spray that not only shoots bullets faster but is also more difficult to control, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit alleges that Glock has falsely claimed it could not make the design changes to its handguns that would hinder the use of auto sears. Glock did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Calls to state and national gun-rights groups seeking a reaction to the lawsuit were not immediately returned. Eric Tirschwell, executive director with Everytown Law, and an attorney in the suit, said that Glock designed its pistol 'in a way that is uniquely susceptible to being converted to an illegal machine gun.' 'By comparison, other major manufacturers' pistols, like Smith & Wesson and Sig Sauer, can't be converted in the easy way,' Tirschwell said. 'Glocks are very common, including being the No. 1 gun recovered from criminals here in Baltimore and elsewhere across the country.' Maryland is not the first to sue Glock over the issue of rapid-firing modifications. Attorneys general in New Jersey and Minnesota filed suit in December and Everytown Law is involved in a case with Chicago over the issue. Scott said despite the fact homicide rates and nonfatal shootings have decreased in Baltimore over the last two years, modified Glocks are becoming more prevalent at crime scenes, including in carjackings, homicides and other violent crimes. 'This is a growing threat to safety,' he said. 'The number of switches recovered by BPD [the Baltimore Police Department] has increased exponentially over the past few years,' he said. 'The number of modified Glocks recovered by local law enforcement has gone up from 35 in 2023, to over 65 in 2024.' Brown said a Glock modified with an automatic sear can shoot up to 1,200 rounds per minute. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE 'The faster a gun fires the more people get caught in the crossfire,' Brown said. 'Glock isn't pulling the trigger, but they're arming those who do.' The lawsuit also claims the company knowingly promotes posts that associate the pistol with using auto sears. 'Customers associate Glock switches with the Glock brand so closely that they tag Glock's social media accounts in posts about Glock switches, which Glock then displays on its own Facebook page — furthering and facilitating the association between Glock pistols and switches,' the lawsuit says. 'In addition, in response to Glock's posts on in its Facebook page, customers have commented about fully automatic fire capabilities — again furthering the association.' Scott said that by failing to place reasonable controls to prevent modifications, 'Glock has knowingly contributed to this rising issue and jeopardize the safety of our neighborhoods, our citizens and our law enforcement officers.' 2025.02.12-Final-Baltimore-Maryland-Glock-Complaint
Reuters
12-02-2025
- Reuters
Maryland, Baltimore sue Glock over easily-converted guns, cite violence threat
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Maryland and the city of Baltimore sued Glock on Wednesday, seeking to force one of the country's largest gun sellers to take steps to prevent owners from modifying its products into automatic weapons resembling machine guns. The lawsuit filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court is intended to help reduce gun violence on the streets, and is the first test of Maryland's Gun Industry Accountability Act adopted last year. Authorities said owners of Glock semiautomatic pistols can easily install "auto sears," also known as Glock switches, that make the weapons more lethal, capable of firing 1,200 rounds a minute. The complaint said sears cost as little as $20 when bought from third parties, and can be produced on 3D printers. Federal law banned most sales of machine guns to the public in 1934, when the weapons were associated with gangsters like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly. Glock, a unit of Austria-based Glock Ges.m.b.H., did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Minnesota, New Jersey and the city of Chicago filed similar lawsuits against Glock last year. According to the Washington Post, Glock has argued in the Chicago case it was not liable for actions of third parties, and said a 2005 federal law shielded gun makers from liability. Baltimore, Maryland's largest city with a population of about 565,000, has long had one of the highest murder rates among large American cities. At a press conference announcing the lawsuit, Mayor Brandon Scott said that while homicides and non-fatal shootings in Baltimore are falling, the proliferation of sears on Glocks and so-called ghost guns poses a growing safety threat. Ghost guns are largely untraceable, privately made firearms. Scott said Baltimore police recovered more than 65 modified Glocks in 2024, up from 35 in 2023. The complaint also highlighted modified Glocks' presence in popular culture, including in video games and the 2022 Billboard No. 1 song "Jimmy Cooks" by Drake featuring 21 Savage, which includes the lyric "This Glock .45 came with a switch." "By failing to implement reasonable controls to prevent illegal modifications, and prioritizing profits over safety, Glock has knowingly contributed to this rising issue and jeopardized the safety of our neighborhoods, our citizens and our law enforcement officers," Scott said. The lawsuit seeks to stop sales of easily-converted Glocks in Maryland, and to recoup profits and restitution, among other remedies.
