Adnan Syed, Subject of Serial Podcast, To Receive New Trial

Serial

If you listened to Season 1 of Serial, this will be major news. If you didn’t, the case probably won’t matter to you. The podcast looked at the case of Adnan Syed, who was convicted of murdering his girl friend, and cast doubts as to his guilt. The publicity from the podcast led to a reexamination of the case. Today a Baltimore judge vacated his conviction and granted him a new trial. The Baltimore Sun reports:

A Baltimore judge on Thursday ordered a new trial for convicted murderer Adnan Syed, adding a new chapter to a two-decade-old case propelled to international attention by the popular “Serial” podcast.

Syed, now 35, has been serving a life sentence since 2000, when he was convicted of killing ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee the year before. The body of Lee, a classmate of Syed at Woodlawn High School, was found buried in Baltimore’s Leakin Park.

Retired Judge Martin Welch, who had denied Syed’s previous request for a new trial, vacated Syed’s conviction Thursday and said questions about cell phone tower evidence should have been raised by his trial team.

The ruling came four months after a hearing that also featured testimony from an alibi witness who had been featured in “Serial.”

The podcast was downloaded millions of times, drawing legions of devoted fans who scrutinized the case online.