Adnan Syed, a Woodlawn High School student who was convicted of the murder of classmate Hae Min Lee in 2000 and was the subject of the wildly popular podcast Serial, will get a new trial, rules an appeals panel.
The appeals panel deemed that Syed had received "ineffective legal council at his trial" and that "Syed's murder conviction must be vacated... the instant case will be remanded for a new trial on all charges against Syed."
It is possible that the popularity of the Serial podcast played a role in the granting of a new trial. It resulted in the forthcoming of a witness who was not involved in the original trial and who could provide evidence for an alibi for Syed.
The new trial may also address cell phone tower evidence used in the original trial which many viewed as unreliable to pinpointing someone's location back in 1999 when the technology was still relatively new.
Lee was Syed's ex-girlfriend. She disappeared on January 13, 1999. Lee was last seen by several people leaving Woodlawn High School in her car but never showed up to pick up her younger cousin at a different school. Her body was found in Leakin Park four weeks later and she was deemed to have been murdered via manual strangulation.
Source: NYTimes.com