Adnan Syed, who in 2000 was given a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, won a leave to appeal on Friday. BuzzFeed reports that the Court of Special Appeals overturned the Baltimore City Circuit Court’s previous denial of “post conviction relief.” Syed won based on the argument that his trial attorney during the case, Cristina Gutierrez, failed to pursue a key witness, Asia McClain, who claims to have been with Syed the night of the murder. McClain had written an affidavit giving Syed an alibi in 2000; she did so again earlier this year, claiming that the prosecutor Kevin Urick convinced her not to testify. McClain said that Sarah Koenig’s “Serial” story helped convince her how important she actually was to the case. She wrote, “I realized I needed to step forward and make my story known to the court system.” The appeal will occur in front of a panel of judges in June.
