DO-OVER

Adnan Syed of 'Serial' Is Granted New Trial by Appeals Court

Syed has spent nearly 20 years behind bars for the 2000 murder of ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee.

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals on Thursday ordered a new trial for Adnan Syed, who was convicted of murdering his high-school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 2000. In its ruling, the court, which is the second highest in the state of Maryland, focused on his lawyer's failure to question Asia McClain, a potential alibi witness, at trial. "Syed’s Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel was violated by trial counsel’s failure to investigate McClain as a potential alibi witness," the appeals court wrote in its opinion. "Accordingly, we remand the case for a new trial." The judgement upholds a lower court's ruling from 2016. Syed's case captured national attention when it became the subject of the first season of "Serial," which did a deep dive into the investigation and raised questions about his conviction.