'Serial' Murder Case: Grounds for Retrial?

BALTIMORE, MD – A judge heard closing arguments Tuesday in the case featured by the hit podcast Serial, in which a man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend while a student at Woodlawn High School seeks a new trial.

The defense strategy of Adnan Syed, who was convicted in the 1999 slaying of Hae Min Lee, hinged on several elements as grounds for appeal:

• A witness who provided an alibi for Syed during the time of the murder was never called during his trial.
• There were allegations that Syed was provided ineffective counsel by his attorney, who was later disbarred.
• Cell phone data that was potentially unreliable was used as evidence without mention of its inaccuracy.

Syed was convicted of the murder of Hae Min Lee in 2000 and has been in jail for more than 15 years.

Prosecutors allege that his former classmate Asia McClain Chapman, who testified she saw Syed at the Woodlawn library when Lee was allegedly strangled to death, may have been part of an elaborate attempt to create alibi witnesses, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Syed’s acquaintance Jay Wilds, who gave information to investigators to avoid going to jail, allegedly said they planned to be in certain places around the time of the murder to create alibis, the newspaper reported.

Failure to contact the alibi witness was evidence that Syed’s previous defense attorney provided ineffective counsel, according to his new representation.

The defense attorney who represented Syed at trial in 2000—Cristina Gutierrez—died in 2004. Therefore, she was unable to explain why she never called McClain as a witness at the trial.

Experts for both prosecutors and the defense argued about the reliability of the cell phone data.

The judge will issue his ruling in writing as to whether Syed may be granted a retrial, according to WJZ, which reported there was no time table in which he must come to a decision. In the meantime, Syed will continue serving his life sentence.

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