Baltimore’s top prosecutor is no longer seeking to vacate the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, the man whose case garnered national attention in the “Serial” podcast over a decade ago.

In a new filing Tuesday evening, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates withdrew a motion to vacate Syed’s conviction filed in 2022 by previous state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby, saying the original motion contains “false and misleading statements.”

The prosecutor’s reversal came just hours before Syed is due in court for a hearing on a separate motion to reduce his prison sentence.

“After a thorough review of the Motion to Vacate Judgment filed by the previous administration in the case of Adnan Syed, my office has determined that it contains false and misleading statements that undermine the integrity of the judicial process,” Bates said in announcement of the decision.

Syed was convicted in 2000 for the 1999 murder of his then-high school classmate and ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. In 2014, the “Serial” podcast raised significant questions about the conviction and Syed’s legal representation. Syed’s conviction was vacated in 2022 and he was released, but Lee’s family challenged the decision and the parties having been litigating the issue ever since.

Last August, the Maryland Supreme Court reinstated Syed’s conviction, ruling that the rights of Lee’s family were violated because her official representative, her brother Young Lee, was not properly notified of the 2022 hearing to vacate the conviction. The high court’s ruling meant Bates, who took office in 2023, had to decide whether to continue his predecessor’s efforts.

While finding Mosby’s motion flawed, Bates’ office did not assess the credibility of the case against Syed, according to the filing. Bates also emphasized that Syed would still be able to pursue other legal avenues to prove his innocence.

Syed’s attorney, Erica J. Suter, sharply criticized the reversal, saying the current state’s attorney “got it wrong.”

“His decision to withdraw his office’s motion to vacate Adnan’s conviction ignores the injustices on which this conviction was founded. We will continue to fight to clear his name through all legal avenues available to him,” Suter said in a statement to CNN.

The defense attorney said their focus is now on “ensuring that (Syed’s) freedom is not taken away from him again” in Wednesday’s sentence reduction hearing.

“After spending 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Adnan is not bitter. He is rebuilding a life for himself and his family, while continuing to profess his innocence,” said Suter, who is also Director of the Innocence Project Clinic at the University of Baltimore Law School in Maryland.

Syed’s attorneys filed the sentence reduction motion in December under the Juvenile Restoration Act, a 2021 state law allowing individuals who were minors at the time of their crimes and have served at least 20 years in prison to seek a reduced sentence. Syed was 17 at the time of Lee’s murder.

Prosecutors have expressed support for the sentence reduction motion. Last month, Bates’ office asked the court to modify Syed’s life sentence to suspend all but time served, with a period of probation.

Syed will remain free if the motion is granted after Wednesday’s hearing.

CNN’s Hanna Park contributed to this report.