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The Maryland Court of Special Appeals last month allowed the
convict, Adnan Syed, to call a woman who said in an affidavit
she saw him at a library around the time of the murder of his
ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, on Jan. 13, 1999.
Syed appealed his 2000 murder conviction arguing that his legal
counsel was ineffective for not interviewing the witness, Asia
McClain, and for not seeking a plea deal.
The appeals court said it would stay that appeal and return the
case to Baltimore City Circuit Court to re-open the
post-conviction proceedings. McClain said in an affidavit the
prosecutor had discouraged her from attending them.
The petition by Syed's lawyer, C. Justin Brown, formally
requested the lower court to return the case to the Baltimore
court.
The podcast, "Serial," was released by public radio station WBEZ
Chicago in October and was the fastest to reach 5 million
downloads, according to Apple.
A subsequent podcast, "Undisclosed: The State v. Adnan Syed,"
was produced by lawyers fighting to overturn his conviction, and
aired its first episode in April.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by Sandra
Maler)
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