Adnan Syed, subject of popular podcast 'Serial,' granted new trial

Adnan Syed in high school, left, and as he appears today, 16 years into his life sentence.

THE MAN convicted of killing his Asian/American girlfriend 17 years ago, will be getting a new trial after an NPR podcast of his case drew attention to alleged irregularities in his trial.

The 35-year old Adnan Syed's conviction was the subject of Serial, the highest rated podcast in NPR history. He was convicted of killing his girlfriend and high school classmate Hae Min Lee. The 2014 podcast produced by reporter Sarah Koenig won a Peabody Award and was downloaded millions of times.

In his order issued today (June 30), Baltimore Circuit Judge Martin Welch said that Syed’s attorney at the time rendered “ineffective assistance” by failing to cross-examine the state’s cell tower expert about the reliability of cell tower location evidence.

Welch wrote that Syed's attorney in the 2000 trial "rendered ineffective assistance when she failed to cross-examine the state's expert regarding the reliability of cell tower location evidence."

RELATED:

• Syed will get a new trial 
• Adnan Syed a step closer to a retrial of his murder conviction

"The court finds that trial counsel's performance fell below the standard of reasonable professional judgment when she failed to cross-examine the state's cell tower expert regarding a disclaimer obtained as part of pre-trial discovery," Welch wrote.

Hae Min Lee

Syed's original lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez, died in 2004.

During a news conference, Syed's lawyer was asked if a new trial would have been granted without Serial. “I don’t think so,” said attorney C. Justin Brown.

Brown said the state has 30 days to file an appeal. In the meantime, Brown said, he would work to get Syed freed on bail.

RELATED: NPR'S 'Serial' raises questions of Adnan Syed's defense

"It is the continued desire of the Attorney General to seek justice in the murder of Hae Min Lee," the Maryland Attorney General's office said in a statement. "The state's responsibility remains to pursue justice, and to defend what it believes is a valid conviction."

During a hearing in March, Deputy Maryland Attorney General Thiru Vignarajah said Syed was convicted based on "overwhelming evidence."

"He did it, and the state proved it," Vignarajah said.

Lee's family did not participate in "Serial" and did not speak out in any of the articles, spinoff podcasts and websites that followed but did issue a statement during the March hearing. Lee's family broke a long silence to say that "those who learn about the case on the internet" and were pushing for Syed's release were "misinformed," and that it was "more clear than ever" that justice was served the first time.

"It remains hard to see so many run to defend someone who committed a horrible crime, who destroyed our family, who refuses to accept responsibility, when so few are willing to speak up for Hae," the family said in a statement released by the attorney general's office.

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NPR podcast subject Adnan Syed a step closer to a new trial

A MARYLAND appeals court delivered a significant victory May 18 to Adnan Syed, the young Indian American man convicted of murdering Hae Min Lee in 1999 and the subject of the hit NPR podcast Serial. 

Syed, the Baltimore County man convicted in 2000 of murdering Hae Min Lee, his high school girlfriend, is one step closer to a shorter sentence.

Chief Judge Peter B. Krauser of the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland ruled to allow Syed’s request for post-conviction relief to be reopened in a circuit court. 

Adnan Sayed

Previously, Syed had filed a motion for post-conviction relief on the grounds that his attorney, Christina Gutierrez, had been incompetent. That motion was denied in January 2014. However, because of the questions raised by the popular podcast—which revealed, among other things, that Gutierrez had failed to contact Asia McClain, a potential alibi witness—Syed appealed the decision.

RELATED: Serial: A boy, a girl and a radio program

Asia McClain, a classmate of Lee and Sayed, was interviewed in the radio podcast. She claims to have seen Syed at the library when he allegedly committed the murder. On Monday of this week, the appeals court ruled that the case would be “remanded” to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, which would allow additional evidence to be introduced, including the testimony of McClain.

The purpose of the remand is to give the Circuit Court the chance to “re-open the previously concluded post-conviction proceeding.” The remand could “afford the parties the opportunity to supplement the record with relevant documents and even testimony pertinent to the issues.” 

Lee was born in South Korea. She played lacrosse on her school team and was well-liked at her high school. She disappeared after school on Jan, 13, 1999, and her body was found on Feb. 9 1999. She had been strangled and left in a Baltimore park. After a six-week trial in 2000, Syed was convicted of her murder.

The 12-episode Serial, produced by journalist Sara Koenig, became a national phenomenon and was the most popular podcast of NPR. It followed the story, interviewed friends and family of Sayed. Lee's family refused to participate.

If McClain is able to convince the court that her story is true, the now-34-year-old Syed may have a chance to escape his life sentence. If his conviction is eventually overturned, the question raised by the podcast becomes even more relevant: Who killed Hae?

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NPR's 'Serial' helps reopen 15-year old murder case

A girl, a boy and a radio program

Adnan Syed, left, was convicted in 1999 of murdering Hae Min Lee, right.

ADNAN SYED was convicted of the 1999 murder of his girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, and sentenced to life in prison. After a letter-writing campaign by Syed's family captured a journalist's attention, and Serial became the most downloaded podcast in history, public pressure pushed the state of Maryland to re-evaluate Syed's case.

Fifteen years after Lee's death, a witness has come forward to testify that may place him elsewhere at the time of the homicide.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the testimony of Asia McClain, a classmate of both Syed and Lee, challenges the timeline Baltimore prosecutors used to prove that Syed strangled Lee to death after school on Jan. 13, 1999. McClain's testimony wasn't heard at Syed's 2000 trial, when a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment.

Syed's attorney Cristina Gutierrez did not call her as a witness. Gutierrez, died in 2004.

Syed, now 34, is serving a life sentence plus 30 years in a Maryland state prison. Prosecutors said he killed Lee out of jealousy after she began dating someone else.

Journalist Sara Koenig

The case drew the attention of former Baltimore Sun reporter Sarah Koenig. She produced a 12-part series for public radio last year titled Serial. The series became a national pop-culture phenomenon and was downloaded by millions of listeners, discussion groups were formed and office workers gathered at lunchtime to try to unravel the the details of the case.

Public pressure and McClain's willingness to testify 

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals on Friday (Feb. 6) agreed to rehear Syed's case because of McClain's willingness to testify and public pressure.

Syed's main argument is Gutierrez, provided him ineffective counsel, and last week's court ruling gives him a chance to show the special appeals court why he believes he should be granted a new trial.

Lee was born in South Korea. She played lacrosse on her school team and was well-liked at her high school. She disappeared after school on Jan, 13, 1999, and her body was found on Feb. 9 1999. She had been strangled and left in Leakin Park in Baltimore. After a six-week trial in 2000, Adnan Syed was convicted of her murder.

Serial has been been faulted for presenting a one-sided version of events around Lee's homicide. Koenig says she tried talking to Lee's family but they wanted nothing to do with the project. 

Koenig was criticized for falling for the "model minority" myth by describing Lee and Adnan, a Pakistani American, as model students, community volunteers and honor students. One of the problems with the model minority myth is that it infers that there is a "bad minority."To Koenig, Hae's and Adnan's counterpart was Jay Wilds, Syed's friend who allegedly helped bury Lee's body. 

A conference room white board in a New York office shows the interest in the podcast, Serial

If there was any doubt about Koenig's feelings about Jay, who is African American, she says in her podcast: “Jay wasn’t in the magnet program at Woodlawn. He was ‘gen pop’ — their term, not mine — like general population at a prison.”

Wilds did not cooperate with Koenig's podcast but said in a Rolling Stone interview that she "demonized him."

If nothing else, the changes occurring in the case almost ensures that there will be a second season of Serial.