The subject of the most-listened-to podcast in the history of Apple’s iTunes, Adnan Syed, has been granted a new trial after a judge vacated his conviction last week, finding that his prior legal representation exhibited notable malfeasance in his defense of murder charges.
Syed was convicted of killing his then-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 2000, and has been serving a life sentence for the conviction since. The Serial podcast delved deep into the case, and left many listeners with questions of Adnan’s actual guilt, something he now has a chance to disprove with the upcoming retrial.
Although the Maryland state Attorney General’s office plans to challenge the ruling of a retrial – an appeal process that could take up to a year, Syed now has what sounds like an increasingly solid defense team at his aid, and hopes to prove his innocence once and for all.
A pro-bono team from the firm of Hogan Lovells announced Wednesday that it will join up with Syed’s attorneys for the past seven years, C. Justin Brown and Christopher Nieto.
“If the state elects to proceed with a retrial, we intend to tap into our extensive trial experience and many years of handling innocence cases to work to ensure that Adnan receives the best legal defense possible,” said Steve Barley, managing partner of Hogan Lovells’ Baltimore office.
Brown, who will remain lead counsel, said he reached out to the firm after receiving offers of assistance from other firms.
“This allows us to prepare for anything. We can pursue all the different tracks that the case might take,” Brown said in a phone interview. “We can do it all simultaneously.” (via)
The modern marvel of technology, bros. Twenty years ago, the word podcast wasn’t even in our vocabulary, and now, it might be the impetus to granting a wrongly-convicted man his freedom. Mind-blowing.