An appeal court in the US state of Maryland on Thursday granted a new trial to a man convicted of his ex-girlfriend’s 1999 murder, in a case that received worldwide attention thanks to the hit podcast Serial.
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals found that Adnan Syed, now in his late 30s, received ineffective counsel and ordered that his 2000 conviction on charges of murder, kidnapping and false imprisonment be vacated.
Syed had been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 18-year-old Hae Min Lee, whose strangled body was found buried in a shallow grave in the woods of Baltimore, Maryland.
Adnan Syed was convicted of the 1999 murder of ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, but has won a new trial in Maryland. Photo: Serial
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Both Syed and Hae were honour students and children from immigrant families who had concealed their relationship from their conservative parents.
Prosecutors laid out a clear case, saying Syed’s conservative Muslim upbringing made him feel especially humiliated, but his supporters said authorities had failed to contact a witness who claimed she saw Syed, at the time of the murder, in a public library.
Adnan Syed leaves the Baltimore City Circuit Courthouse on February 5, 2016. Photo: Reuters
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The case earned new attention when it was taken up by Serial, a weekly podcast that saw a US journalist revisit the case and cast doubt on his guilt.
