ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A prosecutor on Tuesday apologized to Adnan Syed and the family of Hae Min Lee after announcing that her office would not retry Syed for Lee’s 1999 killing.
Marilyn Mosby, the state’s attorney for the city of Baltimore, said her office would continue to pursue justice for Lee but that it had closed its case against Syed, who spent 23 years in prison for the killing.
“This case is over. There are no more appeals necessary,” Mosby said during a news conference.
“Although my administration was not responsible for neither the pain inflicted upon Hae Min Lee’s family, nor was my administration responsible for the wrongful conviction of Mr. Syed, as a representative of the institution, it is my responsibility to acknowledge and to apologize to the family of Hae Min Lee and Adnan Syed. . … Justice is never denied, but justice be done. Today, justice is done,” Mosby said.
A Baltimore judge last month overturned Syed’s murder conviction and ordered him released from prison, where the 41-year-old had spent more than two decades. Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn also gave prosecutors 30 days in which to decide whether to retry Syed or drop the charges.