Baltiomore, Md. — Baltimore prosecutors filed a motion supporting Adnan Syed’s recent request to have his sentence reduced to time served, which could ensure he remains free indefinitely as he awaits further court decisions in a decadeslong legal saga that amassed a large following from the hit podcast “Serial.” Syed was released from prison in 2022 after prosecutors asked a judge to overturn his murder conviction in the 1999 slaying of his high school ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. But challenges from Lee’s family later led to his conviction being reinstated. In August, the Maryland Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision ordering a new hearing about vacating the conviction. Last month, Syed’s attorneys filed a motion asking for his sentence to be reduced under Maryland’s relatively new Juvenile Restoration Act, which allows people serving long sentences for crimes they committed as minors to seek release after 20 years behind bars. The legislation was passed amid growing consensus that such defendants are especially open to rehabilitation, in part because brain science shows cognitive development continues well beyond the teenage years. Syed was 17 when Lee was found strangled to death and buried in a makeshift grave. Prosecutors filed the motion in support of a sentence reduction on Sunday, according to the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office. In it, State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said Syed’s request is “in the interest of justice.” – Read more