Lawyer for Hae Min Lee family describes their shock, next steps
BALTIMORE -- In a one-on-one interview with WJZ on Tuesday, Steve Kelly, the attorney who is representing Hae Min Lee's family, said the legal system left his clients in the dark.
Kelly explained that he was hired to represent the family just hours before a hearing where a judge vacated Adnan Syed's murder conviction.
Syed was convicted in the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee.
The investigation into Lee's death and Syed's conviction received worldwide attention after the first season of the Serial Podcast, which cast doubt on the evidence that was used to convict Syed
"I was asked to take on the case Sunday, late Sunday afternoon is when the client retained us—so not a lot of time to be prepared to try to put together a paper that could be filed," said Kelly.
When Kelly tried to delay the legal proceedings on Monday so that Hae Min Lee's brother could possibly travel to Baltimore from California, the judge denied the request but instead allowed Young Lee to address the court via zoom.
Lee said his family is still reeling from his sister's murder more than two decades ago.
"Going through it again is like a living nightmare," Young Lee told the court via zoom.
Lee said he felt "blindsided" and "betrayed" by the motion from prosecutors that eventually set Adnan Syed free.
Steve Kelly said the family is now in shock.
"The fact that makes it hard for them to swallow is the fact that they were kept in the dark," said Kelly. "And you know, they trusted the state, and the state took such an abrupt turn without sitting down and explaining it. And that's what really stings them. They really feel betrayed. I mean, the two words that Young used yesterday were blindsided and betrayed."
As people cheered for Syed when he stepped outside to freedom, some of those same supporters say they feel the pain for Hae Min Lee's family.
"It's heartbreaking," Doug Colbert, a professor at the Maryland Carey Law School, said. "I mean, a young exceptionally brilliant high school senior was murdered. So that person has not been brought to justice yet - the family has to be feeling enormous pain."
Colbert was one of the very first attorneys to represent Syed just days after his arrest. Colbert told WJZ he'd always believed in Syed's innocence.
"Yesterday was an overwhelming feeling of being proud to be a lawyer, seeing Adnan walk out of that courtroom after 23 and a half years," Colbert said. "We've had a lot of close calls where it looked like Adnan would get a new trial. Two different courts said he should get a new trial. So I always prepare myself for waiting until it's an official word. But when I got notice that the prosecutor Mrs. Mosby had filed a motion to vacate the conviction. It was really a dream come true."
Kelly said there are some options to appeal, but he hasn't discussed them with Hae Min Lee's family yet because they are still in shock.