Adnan Syed, subject of the documentary podcast Serial, has had his conviction vacated and a new trial ordered.
Syed has been in prison for 16 years for the murder of Hae Min Lee, his ex-girlfriend. His case was the subject of a 12-part podcast by Sarah Koenig, which explored variances bits of evidence that were overlooked by Syed’s original trial lawyer.
In an order handed down on Thursday afternoon, retired Judge Martin Welch wrote Syed’s lawyer “renedered ineffective assistance when she failed to cross-examine the state’s expert regarding the reliability of cell tower location evidence.”
The lawyer also failed to give due attention to a witness who provided an alibi for Syed at the time of the murder.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Syed’s brother Yusuf said: “I had a feeling in my heart it was going to happen. We are just very happy. It’s not only a win for us but a win for a lot of people who are stuck in the system because it opened a lot of people’s eyes about the justice system.”
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