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Adnan Syed of ‘Serial’ podcast has conviction vacated, new trial granted

Adnan Syed, whose case was the subject of the “Serial” podcast, will remain in jail pending a new trial. The Baltimore man was convicted of killing his former high school girlfriend in 2000. That conviction was recently vacated. (Barbara Haddock Taylor / AP)
By Justin Fenton The Baltimore Sun (TNS)

BALTIMORE – A Baltimore judge has vacated the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, the subject of the popular “Serial” podcast that explored his case, and granted his request for a new trial.

The order from retired Judge Martin Welch was handed down in an order Thursday afternoon. Syed has been serving a life sentence since being convicted in 2000 of killing ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, a Woodlawn High School classmate, and burying her body in Leakin Park.

Welch wrote in his opinion that Syed’s trial attorney “rendered ineffective assistance when she failed to cross-examine the state’s expert regarding the reliability of cell tower location evidence.”

Syed’s attorney, C. Justin Brown, broke word of the judge’s ruling on Twitter. “WE WON A NEW TRIAL FOR ADNAN SYED! #FreeAdnan,” he wrote.

The ruling comes four months after a post-conviction hearing at which Syed’s attorneys argued that a crucial alibi witness and questionable cellphone records were wrongly overlooked by his original trial lawyer.

The Maryland attorney general’s office maintained that Syed was a calculated killer whose conviction was the only possible outcome. Deputy Attorney General Thiru Vignarajah said he knew the state’s position was “not popular.”

“The court finds that trial counsel’s performance fell below the standard of reasonable professional judgment when she failed to cross-examine the state’s cell tower expert regarding a disclaimer obtained as part of pretrial discovery,” Welch wrote.