BALTIMORE, Nov. 7 (UPI) — A Baltimore circuit court judge granted a new hearing to Adnan Syed, subject of the widely popular Serial podcast last year, allowing new witness testimony and evidence.
Judge Martin P. Welch ruled Syed’s post-conviction proceedings will be reopened based on two issues: testimony from possible alibi witness Asia McClain, a former high school classmate who claims to have seen Syed in the library at the same time prosecutors said Syed was killing former girlfriend Hae Min Lee, and questions surrounding the reliability of cellphone tower evidence presented in the original trial.
“This is obviously great news for Adnan. It brings us one step closer to our ultimate goal of getting him a new trial,” Syed’s attorney C. Justin Brown said. “What once appeared highly improbable is starting to look more and more probable.”
Syed, 35, is serving a life sentence in the death of Lee in 1999. He has long maintained his innocence. Syed’s attorneys have argued his original attorney, Cristina Gutierrez, botched the case. She died in 2004.
Syed’s case gained international attention while featured on the podcast Serial. The podcast raised numerous questions about Syed’s defense, crime scene evidence, the accuracy of cellphone records and alibi witnesses who were never called to the trial.
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