Central figure in 'Serial' podcast is arguing for new trial

Adnan Syed enters Courthouse East in Baltimore before a hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, in Baltimore.
Adnan Syed enters Courthouse East in Baltimore before a hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, in Baltimore.

BALTIMORE — A convicted murderer who was the focus of a popular podcast is returning to court to argue he deserves another trial and a new chance at freedom.

The podcast "Serial" revolved around the story of Adnan Syed, now 35 and serving a life sentence. At 19, he was convicted of strangling his high school girlfriend and leaving her body in a wooded park on the northwestern edge of Baltimore. The show raised questions about the fairness of Syed's trial in Hae Min Lee's death. It gained a cult following and uncovered evidence that helped prompt a Maryland appeals court to grant a hearing on the possibility of a new trial.

The case had been closed for years when producer Sarah Koenig, a former Baltimore Sun reporter, began examining it in the podcast in 2014, drawing millions of listeners each week — so many that the public radio podcast shattered Apple's iTunes store's record for downloads, reaching 5 million faster than any other podcast program.

The hearing, scheduled to last three days before Baltimore Circuit Judge Martin Welch, is meant to determine whether Syed's conviction will be overturned and case retried.

Syed's motion for a new trial centers on two issues: an alibi witness who was never called to testify at Syed's trial, and cell tower data that defense attorneys argue is inaccurate, misleading and should never have been entered into evidence.

Prosecutors called no eyewitnesses and presented no DNA evidence at Syed's original trial in 2000. Prosecutors did present cell tower data from the night Lee was killed, saying it linked Syed to a general area where her body was found a month later. Brown argued in his motion that the state intentionally omitted a cover sheet from AT&T warning that such data is unreliable in determining a person's exact location.

The alibi witness is Asia McClain, a former classmate who said she spotted Syed at a library the day Lee was strangled. Last year, McClain filed an affidavit saying that she'd be willing to testify on Syed's behalf. McClain said that she contacted Syed in jail while he was awaiting trial, and Syed told his attorney at the time, Cristina Gutierrez, to contact her. But the attorney, who was later disbarred in connection with other cases, never did.

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