Serial’s Adnan Syed Has Been Granted A Hearing In The Court Of Special Appeals
Koenig says if his appeal was once "alive by a thread", it's now more of "a well-made string".
In one of the final episodes of Serial, Sarah Koenig describes Adnan Syed’s hopes for an appeal as being “alive by a thread”. Now, after considering his most recent application, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals has granted Syed a hearing to take place in June of this year.
Today, Koenig shared a new statement on the Serial Facebook page; the first post from the show’s creators since December last year.
Of course, this is far from being anything like an acquittal. Syed is currently serving a life sentence in a Maryland correctional facility for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. And, instead of arguing Syed’s innocence, the purpose of this appeal is to determine whether the convicted man had adequate representation at his initial trial.
Sarah Koenig’s investigative work on the Serial podcast exposed much of the doubt around this question. There are ongoing concerns in particular with the work of his now deceased attorney Cristina Gutierrez and the fact that she never sought a plea deal for her client, as well as the eye-witness testimony of a fellow student who may have been able to place Syed elsewhere at the time of the crime.
Despite these suspicions, the decision to grant his appeal is being described as rare. Though many convicted defendants are granted an appeal, it’s unusual for the court to grant someone a second hearing; Syed has already attempted the appeal’s process a few years ago to no success.
“I am 100 percent sure that the judges granted the [hearing] based on the merit of our issues,” said Syed’s attorney C. Justin Brown. “They’re driven by issues. They wouldn’t have granted [a hearing] unless they had some very real interest in those issues.”
Now, a panel of three judges will hear from both Syed and the state before deciding whether to continue the process. If they agree with Syed’s counsel they will either grant a completely new trial or take smaller steps to remedy the situation.
“No matter what the Court of Special Appeals rules, it’s quite possible the whole megillah ends up in Maryland’s highest court, the Court of Appeals,” Koenig explains on the Serial website. “If this current panel of judges grants Adnan relief, the state is likely to appeal to the highest court; and likewise, if it denies Adnan relief, Adnan’s attorney will probably do the same.”
In classic Koenig style, she remains reserved about the meaning of this news simply telling us “it’s bound to grind on for a long while yet”.
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Incidentally, SMH are also reporting that Koenig may well now work for Funny or Die. What a news day!
Oops: Michaela Watkins as Sarah Koenig in @funnyordie's 'Serial' skit captioned in @smh as real deal Sarah. #Mailkimp pic.twitter.com/IfafgKBPow
— Lee Tran Lam (@leetranlam) February 7, 2015
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Read more about Serial here.