The subject of the popular Serial podcasts, Adnan Syed, was granted an appeal today (Feb. 7) on his case in Maryland Court.
Syed was convicted of the murder of Hae Min Lee in 1999. She went missing on January 13th, and was found weeks later strangled in Leakin Park, Baltimore. Adnan was arrested, brought to trial and given a life sentence for the murder after a witness came forward. Syed was the victim’s ex-boyfriend and cannot account for his whereabouts the day she went missing.
However, he has maintained his innocence.
Syed’s case became the subject of reporter Sarah Koenig’s podcast, Serial. She took interest in the case after a letter-writing campaign from Syed’s family and began researching the case over a 12-month period, reporting the facts and uncovering weak points in the prosecution and the defense’s case.
However, in good news today, it has been revealed that Syed’s appeal has finally been granted.
Syed’s Lawyer, C. Justin Browne told The Baltimore Sun: “It’s the first step in a very long process, but we’re extremely happy.”
The appeal has been granted due to Syed’s lawyer on the case, Cristina Guttierrez , failing to investigate credible witness, Asia McClaine, who claimed she saw Syed at the time of the murder and has a letter she wrote to him as proof. However, McClaine was never asked to testify during the original trial, and this was brought to light during the podcasts.
Let’s not kid ourselves, though; the appeal has also been granted due to public pressure. After all, Serial was a global hit and is the most downloaded podcast in history. That kind of leverage is hard to ignore, and it did bring a lot of new evidence to light in relation to the case.
Hopefully, justice will be found for Hae Min and for Syed, if he is found innocent.
You can listen to every episode of the addictive and compelling story on serialpodcast.org, where documentation on the case is available.
Syed’s appeal is scheduled to be heard in June.
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