Frosh blasts Mosby's handling of Adnan Syed case, argues to remain in appeal
BALTIMORE -- Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh blasted Marilyn Mosby's handling of Adnan Syed's case in a court filing obtained by WJZ Tuesday.
Frosh also said his criticisms of Mosby don't demonstrate bias against Syed, and they do not disqualify his office from an appeals case against Syed's release.
Syed, 41, was sentenced to life after he was convicted for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, his ex-girlfriend. The case first received national attention in 2014 the hit podcast "Serial" raised questions about the prosecution.
Last month, Mosby filed a motion to have the conviction tossed after an investigation conducted by prosecutors and Syed's defense revealed previously undisclosed evidence pointing to two other suspects. A judge granted the motion on Sept. 19, setting Syed free.
Representatives for Young Lee, Hae Min Lee's brother, filed a notice of appeal on Sept. 28 arguing Lee's family did not receive enough notice about the hearing to vacate the conviction. Lee's lawyer argued circuit court proceedings should be paused until the appeal is heard.
The Attorney General said in the Tuesday filing Mosby's actions "raised red flags about the integrity and neutrality of the proceedings."
Frosh said Mosby's office only gave the Lee family two days' notice of its intention to file a motion calling for Syed's conviction to be thrown out.
His office argued Lee should be allowed to make the case Mosby's office violated the Maryland Declaration of Rights' "mandate to treat victims with 'dignity, respect, and sensitivity.'"
Mosby issued a statement about Frosh's filing on Twitter. In the statement, she defended her actions and said it was "extremely troubling" that Frosh was "clearly biased" and operating "in self-preservation mode."
"Attorney General Brian Frosh and his office mishandled and sat on exculpatory evidence for years and his recent attempts to save face is a complete disservice to the family of Hae Min Lee and to Adnan Syed who was wrongfully incarcerated for 23 years," she said. "We stand by our investigation and our ultimate finding that there is no credible evidence that Mr. Syed was involved in the death of Ms. Lee."
Mosby alleged that Frosh was trying to protect himself and the original prosecutor and post-conviction attorney in the Syed case by "legally asserting that prosecutors don't have to disclose to the defense an alternative suspect that threatens to kill the victim because the person reporting the threat was not sure if the threat was serious or not."
"Our office has always and will continue to treat the family of Hae Min Lee with respect," Mosby said. "We not only notified the family prior to filing the motion, we provided them a copy of the motion, explained the reasons for the decision, offered counseling, provided personal cell phone numbers with multiple invitations to call or text at any time, and when the court set the matter in for a hearing, we secured a means for any member of the family to observe the hearing virtually."
Related
- 'A Surprise To Us': Maryland AG Frosh slams Mosby, claims no evidence withheld from Adnan Syed's defense
- Maryland AG joins family of Hae Min Lee in calling for pause to Adnan Syed's case
- Mosby defends decision to drop charges against Adnan Syed, discusses DNA results
Baltimore prosecutors dropped Syed's charges on Oct. 12 after new DNA testing results excluded him from evidence in the murder of his ex-girlfriend.
On Oct. 11, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals denied the motion and gave Lee's representatives 15 days to say why their appeal should continue in light of the charges against Syed being dropped. The appellants have until Thursday to file that response.
In light of public comments made by Frosh on the case, Adnan's defense made a motion to strike the Attorney General's office as party to the appeal, saying the prosecutors have "prejudged this case," "demonstrated an interest in this case separate and apart from the subject matter of the appeal," and "seeks to represent not the State of Maryland but itself before this Court."
Frosh said the motion would prevent the Office of the Attorney General from performing its constitutional duty to represent the State of Maryland in the appellate courts.
"The Attorney General's decision to call attention to the unorthodox and questionable conduct of Ms. Mosby and her office throughout the reinvestigation, vacatur, and dismissal of Mr. Syed's convictions was in service of that interest and does not demonstrate a bias against Mr. Syed," Frosh said. "This is particularly true in a case where the only issue on appeal is whether the State complied with the laws governing the treatment of victims."
In a statement to WJZ, Steve Kelly, the attorney representing Hae Min Lee's family wrote, "The Lee family will be filing a response to the court's order to show cause on Thursday. Any positions regarding today's filing by the Attorney General's Office will be set forth in that filing."
Frosh criticized Mosby's comments at a press conference regarding Kelly earlier this month, when Mosby told reporters, "I think it's unfortunate when you have certain attorneys that try to exploit families."
The attorney general also cited several WJZ interviews, saying he stood by comments he made to us on September 21st about Mosby's allegations that prosecutors withheld evidence from defense attorneys. "The folks who I've spoken to and that our office has spoken to say the notes were produced, but more importantly I have to say, we gave them to her. That's where she got them in the first place. We're not withholding them from anybody," Frosh said in the interview.
In Tuesday's filing, Frosh attacked Mosby's claims that handwritten notes about two possible alternate suspects—including one who threatened to kill Lee—were withheld from prosecutors for years in what is known as a Brady violation. The filing stated, "No one ever…contacted anyone from the Office of the Attorney General who was involved in the prosecution of the case."
He also noted, "Remarkably, the State's Attorney's Office did not even speak with Kevin Urick, the author of the notes upon which the allegation of the 'egregious Brady violation' is based."
In the new filing, Frosh said Mosby's office, "selectively quoted one of the allegedly undisclosed notes describing the threat against Ms. Lee…but did not quote the remainder of the note which suggested that the caller did not take the threat seriously."
Frosh also challenged the "extraordinary" speed at which the case moved through the court system, the judge's rare move to allow Syed to walk out of court within minutes, and Mosby's willingness to clear Syed on DNA evidence alone.
He also mentioned WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren's September 20 interview with the state's attorney.
In response, Mosby said in her new statement, "Our investigation is extensive, and only a portion of our findings were outlined in the motion in order to present enough compelling evidence for the court to consider our request, without compromising the rest of this open and pending investigation."
