Latest news with #WoodlawnHighSchool
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Shreveport Public Works bringing careers to life at Woodlawn High School
SHREVEPORT, La (KTAL/KMSS) — The City of Shreveport's Public Works Department is hosting a hands-on career pop-up at Woodlawn High School. According to a press release, the event will showcase the department's vital role in keeping the city running. Students can engage with Public Works employees, explore the heavy-duty equipment they operate daily, and learn about exciting career paths available in the city—no college degree required. 'This is a great chance for our young people to see firsthand that there are good-paying, meaningful careers right here in Shreveport,' said Mayor Tom Arceneaux. 'Public Works keeps our city moving, and we want to inspire the next generation to take pride in these essential jobs.' Join or Die: Documentary highlights the value of civic and community engagement The release added that Public Works crews will be on-site to demonstrate the specialized tools and vehicles they use for road maintenance, drainage management, sanitation services, and more. Students can ask questions, see how the equipment operates, and learn about employment opportunities within the city. 'We want students to know that they can build a successful career in Public Works, right in their own community,' said Director of Public Works Jarvis Morgan. 'This is an opportunity to see the kind of work we do every day to serve Shreveport and how they can be a part of it.' The event will be held on Friday, April 4, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Woodlawn High School in Shreveport. According to the release, the Public Works Department plans to host these career pop-ups at different high schools throughout Shreveport in the coming weeks. For more information, please contact the Public Works Department at 318-673-6300. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Yahoo
‘Serial' subject Adnan Syed's sentence reduced to time served; he will remain free
Adnan Syed, the accused murderer who became the subject of the widely popular podcast 'Serial,' has had his sentence for the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee reduced to time served. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Schiffer said Thursday that Syed, 43, was no longer a danger to society and that the 'interests of justice will be better served by a reduced sentence.' Syed had been facing the risk of returning to prison, but will be allowed to remain free, as he has been since 2022. Syed was 17 years old at the time of Lee's death, who was found strangled in a makeshift grave at Leakin Park several weeks after going missing. The two had previously dated and were classmates at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore. Syed was convicted of murder, kidnapping and false imprisonment in 2000 and was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. The conviction was overturned in 2022 after years of legal battles following the release of 'Serial,' largely based on alternate suspects, unreliable evidence presented at trial and Syed's original defense attorney. The conviction was reinstated last year following appeals, but Syed was allowed to remain free. The decision to reduce the sentence to time served, plus five years probation, was made under Maryland's Juvenile Restoration Act, a law that allows people who have been in prison for at least 20 years for crimes committed as minors to seek a modified sentence. Under Thursday's ruling, Syed's conviction will remain in place. 'Today, we are focused on the joy and relief of this decision. Adnan is grateful that the judge agreed with his motion to reduce his sentence under the Juvenile Restoration Act,' Syed's attorney Erica Suter said in a statement. 'Adnan is committed to continuing to be a productive member of his community and living a life centered around his family.' 'Serial,' which premiered in 2014 to immediate acclaim, won multiple broadcasting awards, including the first-ever Peabody for a podcast. _______
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.
CBS News
06-03-2025
- CBS News
Adnan Syed will not serve more prison time for Hae Min Lee's 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 a Feb. 26 hearing. Syed's resentencing hearing was 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.
CBS News
27-02-2025
- CBS News
Hae Min Lee's family speaks out as judge considers Adnan Syed's prison sentence
More than 25 years ago, 18-year-old Hae Min Lee was found murdered at Baltimore's Leakin Park, which ultimately led to the arrest and conviction of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed, whose case was highlighted in the first season of the true-crime podcast "Serial" in 2014. On Wednesday, a judge left Lee's family waiting as she considers whether Syed's prison sentence should be reduced. Following a hearing, attorneys said the court would release a written decision about resentencing. No specific timeline was given. According to The Baltimore Banner, if Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer approves of the motion, Syed will not have to return to prison. However, his convictions for first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment will remain. Young Lee: "It's my sister who is the true victim" Young Lee, the brother of Hae Min Lee, addressed the judge's pending decision next to his attorney David Sanford and Baltimore's top prosecutor Ivan Bates. "Today, I want to thank the judge for putting my sister as a true victim of this heinous crime, and let people know that it's my sister who is the true victim," Young Lee said. "I hope that she will make the right decision of denying the reduction of sentence." Syed served more than 20 years in prison following his 2000 murder conviction. Lee, who was Syed's ex-girlfriend and classmate at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County, died in 1999. Syed, now 43, was freed from prison in 2022 after Baltimore prosecutors, including former Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, identified issues with the trial evidence. Mosby then filed a motion to vacate, leading a judge to overturn his murder conviction. In August 2024, the Maryland Supreme Court upheld an appellate court's ruling to reinstate the conviction, citing inadequate notice given to Lee's family about the vacatur hearing. Syed was originally sentenced to life in prison, plus 30 years, but has been free since his murder conviction was vacated. "Two years ago, a system broke, a system failed me. I felt betrayed," Young Lee said. "Thanks to David Sanford and his team, and Mr. Bates and his team, to correct that wrong, fix the system and give victims a a voice, give us a chance to say what we need to say." Hae Min Lee's mother wrote in a statement that she tries to remember her daughter's voice and continues to live through the nightmares of the murder. She recalls learning about Syed's release from prison. "I had no will to live, and I did not even know why I had to live, having seen what happened," Lee's mother said in a statement. "I was so disappointed. I am powerless, weak, and cannot speak English well. I know only to abide by the American law. How could such awful news, like a bolt from the blue, be given to me? Is this really America? Is this not supposed to be where justice is alive and criminals are punished for their sins?" Baltimore prosecutor apologizes to Lee's family On Tuesday, Bates said his office was withdrawing their motion to vacate Syed's murder conviction, meaning the conviction stands regardless of whether Syed's sentence is reduced Wednesday. 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." On Wednesday, Bates 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." Sanford said transparency was denied when Mosby's team engaged in private conversations on Syed's vacated conviction in a chambers proceedings without Lee's family, a court reporter and evidence presented on the record. "Transparency was denied when the circuit court failed to conduct an evidentiary hearing which was required to do, and failed to provide findings the facts and conclusions of law in support of overturning a unanimous jury verdict," Sanford said. Arguing against Syed's reduced sentence During Wednesday's hearing, David Sanford, the attorney for the Lee family, argued that 7 out of 11 factors of the Juvenile Justice Restoration Act suggest Syed should not receive a reduced sentence. One of the factors that the court considers under restoration act is the suspect's age at the time of the crime. According to Sanford, Syed was 17 years and seven months old at the time of the murder. Sanford pointed to other similar cases in which a suspect was a few months away from their 18th birthday, arguing the court should consider this when deciding on resentencing. Sanford also said the violent nature of the crime and Syed's lack of remorse should be considered. "Based on our representations, seven of those factors are failed to be met by Mr. Syed," Sanford said. "Not only does he fail to meet seven of the 11 essential factors, he has never to this day, expressed remorse. He has never to this day, accepted responsibility for the crime he was convicted of." Syed called six witnesses to defend his behalf -- ranging from family to friends. Sanford said none of those witnesses mentioned Syed's relationship with Lee, and the pain her death caused. "Not one person, not one mention about a conversation they may have had with Adnan Syed where Adnan Syed expressed sadness or any remorse or any regret or any pain associated with the death and murder of a loved one, of someone he dated, someone he was allegedly physically intimate with, someone presumably he loved," Sanford said.
