A Baltimore judge has granted a new trial for Adnan Syed, whose murder conviction was the focus of the first season of the popular “Serial” podcast.
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Syed was serving a life sentence for killing and burying Lee, whom he attended Woodlawn High School with in Maryland, in a state park in 2000.
Syed’s case became a matter of national interest in 2014, when podcast producer Sarah Koenig delved into his controversial trial that many believed had resulted in a wrongful conviction.
But the cover sheet on the records faxed to Baltimore police by AT&T contained an important warning in small type.
The Baltimore Sun reports the judge denied additional motions related to the allegations of “ineffective assistance” from Syed’s original trial attorneys with regards to the alibi witness and “alleged prosecutorial misconduct” in regards to the cell tower evidence.
In his Thursday order, Welch reiterated his stance that failing to contact Chapman didn’t constitute a failure of duty because her testimony, which pertained to the time of the Lee’s murder, had little to do with Syed’s defense strategy – instead pertaining primarily to the timeline of Lee’s murder.
However, his lawyer announced on Thursday that Baltimore judge Martin Welch has now agreed to Syed’s request for a new trial.
Syed’s friend Rabia Chaudry was the first to bring his case to Koenig’s attention.
Syed contends that his original attorney, Maria Cristina Gutierrez, made several missteps during his defense.
The statement said the hearing had reopened wounds few could imagine and asked everyone to “remember who the criminal is and who the victim is”. She later was disbarred, and died in 2004.
“WE WON. alhamdulillah WE WON!!!!!!!!!”, she tweeted.
Speaking after the new trial was granted, Adnan’s overjoyed brother Yusuf Syed said: “I had a feeling in my heart it was going to happen”.
Additionally, Vignarajah presented records showing that Gutierrez, as well as a team of attorneys working on Syed’s case before she signed on, was aware of Chapman but decided against calling her to the stand. “We’re overwhelmed, overjoyed, and we’re ready”.
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“It is much more hard to prove after 15 plus years that someone is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, especially because some of the evidence will no longer be available, some witnesses will no longer be available, evidence is stale when a case goes 15 plus years and people’s memories are just not the same after that period of time”, Ewing said.
