The subject of the popular podcast 'Serial' is getting an appeal on his murder conviction
Adnan Syed, 34, was convicted in 2000 of strangling his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, the year prior, when both were high school students in suburban Baltimore. "Serial" examined the case in detail and raised questions about Syed's guilt and whether he received a fair trial.
Syed argues that the attorney who represented him ignored his requests to negotiate a plea deal. He also claims she failed to interview a witness who could have provided him with an alibi.
Prosecutors have argued that Syed was never offered a plea deal and that there was no evidence beyond his own post-conviction testimony that attorney Cristina Gutierrez failed him. Gutierrez was disbarred in 2001 and died in 2004.
On Friday, Maryland's second-highest court, the Court of Special Appeals, granted Syed's application for leave of appeal. That means both sides will file briefs, and the court will hear oral arguments in June.
Syed's attorney, Justin Brown, said it's historically difficult to persuade the court to hear such cases.
"If they had said no, that would have been it," Brown said Saturday. "There would have been this incredible finality to it. But now the door's open."
Prosecutors argued that Syed became inconsolably jealous after Lee began dating someone else. There were no eyewitnesses to her slaying, but a former classmate testified that he helped Syed dispose of Lee's body, which was found in a shallow grave in a Baltimore park a month after she was killed.
Syed is serving his life sentence at a prison in western Maryland.
___
Associated Press writer Juliet Linderman, in Baltimore, contributed to this report.
___
Follow Ben Nuckols on Twitter at https://twitter.com/APBenNuckols.
This article was written by Ben Nuckols from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
- US-China tariff war could benefit several sectors in India while harming a few others
- Amid heatwave, Delhi's power demand soars to May's highest ever at 7,572 MW
- 84% of Indian small businesses anticipate robust growth in 2024: CPA Australia survey
- Go Digit IPO allotment – How to check allotment, GMP, listing date and more
- 10 breathtaking valleys to visit in India in 2024
- Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market