Hae Min Lee's family attorneys seek new hearing to find out why Adnan Syed was granted release

BALTIMORE - Attorneys for Hae Min Lee, a Baltimore County teenager who was killed in 1999, want a new hearing.

The family wants to learn more about the evidence that allowed the courts to set former accused killer Adnan Syed free.

Syed walked out of a courtroom more than six weeks ago after his murder conviction was vacated.

Then, last month, all of his charges were dropped.

Since then, there have been several court filings and public spats between attorneys.

And, 23 years later, Lee's murder remains unsolved.

"We want to know what happened and why," said Steve Kelly, the Lee family attorney.

In a filing Wednesday, attorneys for Lee's family asked the Court of Special Appeals to grant a hearing laying out the evidence supporting Syed's release.

"There are ways the evidence can be heard such that it's not going to compromise the investigation," Kelly said.

Kelly argues the Lee family is entitled to know why Syed was set free after 23 years.

The two were students at Woodlawn High School when Lee was murdered in 1999.

Her ex- boyfriend, Syed, now 41, was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison before his release in September.

Kelly said Lee's family wants to hear the evidence.

"They want to know what it is and they want the public to know what it is," Kelly said.

The filing references this week's Baltimore Banner story where it obtained handwritten notes from Kevin Urick, a prosecutor on the case.

It references new evidence highlighting a potential new suspect.

But, Urick claimed he was writing about Syed, not any alternative suspect.

In a statement this week, Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office said Urick "has serious credibility issues."

"Call Mr. Urick. Then, call that person as a witness. Impeach credibility," Kelly said. "That's what would have been done at a trial and that's what should have been done here."

A spokesperson for the State's Attorney's Office said it does not have any credible evidence Syed is connected to Lee's murder and said, in part: "Only a portion of (their) findings were outlined in the motion to present enough compelling evidence for the court to consider (their) request, without compromising the rest of this open and pending investigation."

If the Court of Special Appeals does not grant this new hearing, Kelly said he will file a motion to the other appellate court -- Maryland's Court of Appeals.