Adnan Syed, now serving a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee – a case that was re-examined a little more than a year ago in the popular podcast “Serial” – is expected back in court Wednesday to ask for a new trial, the Baltimore Sun reported.
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Fans of “Serial” are familiar with how Syed’s attorney at the time, Cristina Gutierrez, missed important opportunities that could have helped his case, such as calling McClain as a witness and the questionable cellphone evidence. On 9 February of that year, her body was found by a passer-by partially buried in Baltimore’s sprawling Leakin Park and the cause of death was later confirmed to be manual strangulation.
McClain, who seemed to want to put the 1999 events behind her, is now testifying and could possibly provide the alibi that Syed so desperately sought as he was convicted and sentenced for the murder of his then-girlfriend.
The hearing is set to start Wednesday and is scheduled to last three days before Baltimore Circuit Judge Martin Welch.
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But the podcast, which went live in the fall of 2014 and has been downloaded more than 68 million times, raised doubts about whether he committed the crime. Defense attorney William R Martin will counter Syed’s claims that he was given ineffective council because Guiterrez never called McClain as an alibi witness.
Now 35, Syed is using new evidence uncovered by Serial to prompt the appeals court to grant a hearing on the possibility of a new trial.
In 2015, McClain signed an affidavit saying that she saw Syed at the library during the time the murder was believed to have taken place, and her testimony may play a role in Syed’s case moving forward. However, it has since been discovered that the prosecution did not submit into evidence a sheet that came with the call logs stating the records are not accurate in determining locations in regards to incoming calls. But prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah with the Maryland attorney general’s office said there were reasons to think McClain might not be reliable.
McClain has said she spotted Syed at a library the day Lee was strangled. Listeners of the Season 1 podcast came to regard McClain as something of a great white whale as she largely avoided host Sarah Koenig’s attempts to interview her.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Brown plans to call on his client to testify.
The campaign FreeAdnan is hoping the re-opening of the appeal will see the incarcerated Syed have his conviction eventually over turned.
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Adnan Syed enters Courthouse East in Baltimore prior to a hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 in Baltimore. “It is extraordinary to be granted this chance at another hearing, and the interest of whether justice is being served is at stake”.
