Murder Conviction Appealed for Adnan Syed, Focus of 'Serial' Podcast

>>News Alerts: Subscribe to a free email newsletter: PERRY HALL • OWINGS MILLS • TOWSON • DUNDALK

A Baltimore man serving a life sentence for murder – whose case was scrutinized on the popular “Serial” podcast – argued in an appeal that his former attorney mishandled his defense by not interviewing an alibi witness.

An attorney for Adnan Syed, 34, filed a brief Monday with the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, which has agreed to consider his appeal, reports NBC Washington. Syed was convicted of strangling his former high school girlfriend in 1999 after the couple broke up and she began dating someone else. Syed has been in prison since 2000.

Syed’s conviction and life sentence was the focus of “Serial,’’ a podcast from the creators of “This American Life” on public radio, and is hosted by former Baltimore Sun reporter Sarah Koenig. The series on Syed launched in October and finished in December 2014.

After two failed attempts to appeal his sentence, the Court of Special Appeals agreed last month to hear Syed’s case.

In court papers filed Monday, the Sun reports that Syed’s current attorney, C. Justin Brown, argues that his client’s attorney in 2000, M. Christina Gutierrez, failed to investigate an alibi witness who could have cleared Syed, a failure in her representation. The appeal also says Gutierrez didn’t explore a plea deal.

Guitierrez died in 2003.

The appeal charges that Gutierrez’s “complete failure to investigate was not an innocent mistake; it was a complete failure to follow her client’s wishes, a decision to lie, and a decision that any reasonable attorney would know could very well cost the defendant his case — precisely what happened.”

Syed was convicted of strangling his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999. His appeal effort was helped this time by a written statement from a woman named Asia McClain, who says Syed was with her when Lee died. Gutierrez never asked McClain to testify in his trial, attorneys now say.

Defense attorneys are asking the appeals court to give Syed a new trial, according to an interview with PBS News Hour.

Here’s how Koenig describes what’s next in the case, on the Serial website:

…in its June session, a panel of judges will hear oral arguments from Adnan’s side, and also from the state. Neither side can bring in new evidence or witnesses. Then the court will either deny or grant Adnan further relief. That relief could be a whole new trial in the circuit court, or it could be that the circuit court just has to allow Adnan to present new evidence, such as Asia McClain’s testimony.

No matter what the Court of Special Appeals rules, it’s quite possible the whole megillah ends up in Maryland’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. Because if this current panel of judges grants Adnan relief, the state is likely to appeal to the highest court; and likewise, if it denies Adnan relief, Adnan’s attorney will probably do the same. So it’s bound to grind on for a long while yet.