Adnan Syed Of Serial Will Bring Bid For New Trial To The Supreme Court
Kevin Daley | Supreme Court Reporter
Adnan Syed of “Serial” fame will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, after a state judicial panel refused to reconsider its decision denying his bid for a new trial.
“My heart goes out to my client, who I believe was wrongfully convicted,” Syed attorney Justin Brown said, according to The Baltimore Sun. “We will keep fighting for him. I hope someday we can fix our broken criminal justice system. Today is not that day.”
Brown announced Syeds intentions to appeal to the Supreme Court in a late Friday tweet.
Syed is currently serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Martin Welch granted Syeds request for a new trial in June 2016, citing ineffective assistance of counsel on the part of Syeds trial attorney, Cristina Gutierrez.
Gutierrez made two substantial mistakes, according to Syeds post-conviction lawyers. First, she failed to pursue and introduce an alibi witness, Asia McClain, who claims she was talking with Syed in a public library when Lee may have been murdered. Second, Gutierrez failed to contest cell service location information that placed Syed near Baltimores Leakin Park, where Lees body was recovered, on the day of the murder.
The Court of Appeals of Maryland, the states highest judicial tribunal, reversed on a 4-3 vote and concluded that Syed did not deserve a new trial. Though the majority agreed that Gutierrezs performance was deficient in several respects, they said her errors ultimately did not seriously compromise Syeds defense given the other evidence that prosecutors introduced. (RELATED: A Law Used To Punish Gun Crimes Is Under Attack At The Supreme Court)
Convicted murderer Adnan Syed leaves the Baltimore City Circuit Courthouse in Baltimore, Maryland on Feb. 5, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
“Under the circumstances, the states case against [Syed] could not have been substantially undermined merely by the alibi testimony of Ms. McClain because of the substantial direct and circumstantial evidence pointing to Mr. Syeds guilt,” the decision reads.
The court went on to explain that Syed waived his right to contest the cell tower evidence at an earlier stage of his case.
Syeds petition faces forbidding odds at the U.S. Read More – Source
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