Adnan Syed, the Baltimore, MD subject of the popular “Serial” podcast has been granted a retrial for the murder conviction of his ex-girlfriend in 1999.
In 2014, when questions were raised about his guilt or innocence, Syed became a household name when the “Serial” podcast began digging deeper into the story of his involvement of the murder of his ex-girlfriend, 17-year-old Hae Min Lee. Millions of people listened to this weekly podcast, asking themselves whether the convicted killer really did it.
And now two years later, 35 year old Syed, who was serving a life sentence in prison, will receive a new trial. Syed’s attorney, Justin Brown, made the announcement on Thursday afternoon. “This is an incredible victory. We have been fighting for this day for about eight years now,” said Brown. “It’s been a grueling fight and there have been a lot of disappointments along the way and there were times when it looked like we lost, but we’ve made it and we got him a new trial.”
Syed’s attorneys have long argued that his initial lawyer during his 2000 trial was ineffective, and missed crucial evidence. But now, 16 years later, Syed will get another day in court.
The state of Maryland has 30 days to appeal the judges decision, but Syed’s lawyers say that they are prepared for that and are still ready to fight.
