BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates says he supports Adnan Syed’s motion to reduce his life sentence to time served, following a circuit court filing on Sunday. If approved by a judge, the development could mean Syed will likely never return to prison.
“Has he sufficiently rehabilitated himself… the answer is, yes,” Bates said, emphasizing that Syed, who has been out of prison for more than two years, poses no threat to the public. Syed was incarcerated for 23 years without any infractions.
Bates cited Maryland law, which allows individuals imprisoned for at least 20 years for crimes committed as minors to seek a sentence reduction, as a basis for supporting Syed’s motion. “We don’t want to warehouse individuals. Our state has a $3-billion deficit. Warehousing individuals is not financially smart. But also, if an individual is not a threat to the community any longer and they have served their time, they deserve to have that opportunity of a second shot,” Bates said…