‘The Case Against Adnan Syed’ comes to HBO

Christine Jackson — Wed, 16 May 2018 12:25:00 +0000

HBO is teaming up with Sky for new documentary series The Case Against Adnan Syed, which will revisit the 1999 murder of Baltimore County teen Hae Min Lee and the trial of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed.

Whether or not Syed committed the crime has been a topic of public debate since Sarah Koenig launched the hit podcast Serial, which chronicled the story of the murder and trial, in 2014. Syed was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison. However, The Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled in March that Syed’s attorney failed to call a key alibi witness and ordered that his conviction be thrown out. Prosecutors are now asking the Maryland Court of Appeals to reverse the lower court’s ruling, and it could be months before a decision is made as to whether the conviction will stand or Syed will receive a new trial.

Throughout his trial and during his imprisonment, attorney and family-friend Rabia Chaudry has remained a staunch supporter of Syed. It was Chaudry who originally brought the story to Koenig, and it seems she’s on board with director Amy Berg’s new look at the case.

“There are no coincidences: it was Amy Berg’s documentary West Of Memphis that I watched one night on Netflix, turned off the TV & got online to search for a reporter to investigate Adnan’s case,” Chaudry tweeted after the HBO announcement was made. “I found that reporter same night, Sarah Koenig. Now Amy is directing this series.”

Berg is also known for her 2006 documentary Deliver Us from Evil, about sex abuse cases in the Catholic Church, which was nominated for an Academy Award.

In production since 2015, the documentary series claims to present “new discoveries, as well as groundbreaking revelations that challenge the state’s case” and will feature exclusive access to Syed and his family, the defense team, friends and teachers of Syed and Lee, and Baltimore law enforcement per HBO. It will also feature original music from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

The series’ air date has not yet been released.

Source

Key Witness in Serial Case Appeal Bolsters Adnan Syed’s Alibi

Amy Mulvihill — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:47:00 +0000

Adnan Syed’s effort to overturn his conviction for the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Woodlawn High School senior Hae Min Lee, received a boost last week when Asia McClain filed an affidavit reasserting that Syed was with her in the Woodlawn Public Library at the time the murder is thought to have taken place. McClain further agreed to testify in court on behalf of Syed’s ongoing appeal.

In the affidavit, embedded below, McClain states that she was with Syed in the library from 2:30 to 2:40 p.m. on January 13, 1999, which is the window of time during which the state claims Lee was strangled. Syed, who is serving a life sentence plus 30 years in a Western Maryland prison has always maintained his innocence but his hazy recollection of the day of Lee’s murder and lack of corroborating evidence created suspicion, which was explored this fall in the phenomenally successful podcast, Serial. Indeed, Serial listeners will remember McClain from the first episode of the podcast in which host Sarah Koenig tracked her down and asked her about the day of the murder and her subsequent efforts to contact Syed.

In the affidavit, McClain states she was unaware of her importance to Syed’s case until the podcast brought it to her attention.

“After I learned about the podcast, I learned more about Koenig’s reporting, and more about the Syed case,” she says. “I was shocked by the testimony of [prosecutor] Kevin Urick and the podcast itself; however I came to understand my importance to the case. I realized I needed to step forward and make my story known to the court system.”

McClain maintains that she wrote two letters to Syed in March of 1999 reminding him of their interaction at the library on January 13. The letters were never used as evidence in the trial however. At the time, prosecutors, including Urick, said that McClain had withdrawn her testimony prior to the trial and had only given it in the first place because she had received pressure from the Syed family. In her new affidavit, McClain states that that is untrue, an assertion that suggests prosecutors suppressed evidence.

It is this angle that Syed’s counsel is now pursuing in the ongoing appeal process.

Stay tuned.

Source

Sarah Koenig – Baltimore Magazine

‘The Case Against Adnan Syed’ comes to HBO

Key Witness in Serial Case Appeal Bolsters Adnan Syed’s Alibi