‘Serial’s’ Adnan Syed Granted New Trial

Adnan Syed, the charming convict at the heart of the hit podcast Serial, was granted a new trial by a Baltimore judge on Thursday, setting the stage for what will likely be one of the most intensely followed courtroom scenes in years.

Judge Martin Welch penned in the ruling that Syed’s attorney Cristina Gutierrez “rendered ineffective assistance” by failing to cross-examine the prosecution’s cell tower location expert, who placed Syed’s phone at key locations on Jan. 13, 1999, the day his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee was strangled to death and dumped in Baltimore’s Leakin Park. The cell tower evidence was among the few pieces of hard evidence the state had against Syed.

Syed’s attorneys argued this in a post-conviction hearing in February, in addition to highlighting that Gutierrez failed to contact potential alibi Asia McClain, who claims she was with Syed at the Woodlawn High School library at the time he was alleged to have murdered Lee. The new trial is a huge victory for friends and family who’ve maintained Syed’s innocence since he began serving a life sentence for the murder in 2000.