Protagonist of 'Serial' podcast granted retrial in murder case

A judge ruled on Thursday that Adnan Syed deserved another trial because his original lawyer failed to cross-examine an expert witness.

Syed, the protagonist of the famous 'Serial' podcast, was convicted in 2000 of murdering his former high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in Baltimore. The investigative podcast raised doubts over Syed's guilt and whether he had received a fair trial.

The show was downloaded more than 100 million times and won a Peabody Award for its role in illuminating flaws in the criminal justice system.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Martin Welch said his lawyer should have questioned a mobile phone tower expert about the reliability of data that placed his mobile, the BBC reported.

Alibi witness Asia McClain Chapman is said to have claimed she saw the accused at a library at the time of the murder. But Syed and his legal team had presented new evidence, including the testimony of a new alibi witness, and argued that his original defense counsel had been grossly negligent.

Chapman took the stand in February, and said she and Syed talked for 15 minutes in the library on the day of the murder.

She said she repeatedly tried to get in touch with Syed's defence team but was never contacted to be a witness.

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office said in a statement Thursday night that it had a responsibility to keep pursuing justice and “to defend what it believes is a valid conviction.”