Judge Sets Aside Conviction Of Adnan Syed, Subject Of 'Serial' Podcast

Baltimore, MD — A judge on Thursday vacated the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, the subject of the podcast "Serial," which attracted millions of listeners worldwide as it cast doubt on his guilt for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999.

Judge Martin P. Welch issued the order granting Syed's request for a new trial, in part based on cell phone testimony that went unchallenged by the attorney representing him when he was convicted in 2000.

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The jury at Syed's 2000 trial was told by a prosecution expert that cell phone records placed Syed at the time and place of the murder, in Baltimore's Leakin Park. The expert based his findings on information from AT&T, which had included a disclaimer that the location could not be considered reliable. Neither the expert witness nor the defense attorney mentioned the disclaimer at trial.

The case was among the first in which cell phone records were used to geo-locate someone in connection with a crime, and the technology was far from perfect.

Syed's attorney handling the appeal, C. Justin Brown, argued at a post-conviction hearing in February that the verdict should be set aside in part because of ineffective counsel.

In his opinion, Welch said that Syed's original trial lawyer, Maria Cristina Gutierrez, "fell below the standard of reasonable professional judgment" when she didn't raise the issue of the reliability of cell-phone technology at trial.

"The court also finds that trial counsel's unprofessional error prejudiced [Syed's] defense because there is a substantial possibility that the result of the proceeding would have been different but for trial counsel's failure to cross-examine the State's cell-tower witness about the disclaimer," Welch wrote.

Gutierrez died in 2004, according to The New York Times.

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office indicated it will appeal the ruling, saying in a statement Thursday night that it had a responsibility to keep pursuing justice and “to defend what it believes is a valid conviction.”

Syed remains in prison in Western Maryland. His attorney said he will seek bail.

"We have been fighting for this day for, I think it's been about eight years now, and 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 had lost," the attorney told a news conference. "But we made it. We got a new trial."

The podcast attracted a huge audience when it aired in 2014 and has been downloaded more than 100 million times, according to the Times. Attention to the case has continued on social media since then.

Welch emphasized the prominence of the case had nothing to do with his decision.

"Regardless of the public interest surrounding this case, the court used its best efforts to address the merits of petitioner's petition for post-conviction relief like it would in any other case that comes before the court, unfettered by sympathy, prejudice, or public opinion," he wrote.

Read the judge's opinion.

Patch File Photo