Adnan Syed, Subject of the Popular ‘Serial’ Podcast, Might Be Getting a New Trial

People became emotionally invested in Adnan Syed's case in 2014, when it was featured on Season 1 of the Serial podcast. He was a young man sentenced to life in prison for killing his high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee, but the podcast raised serious doubts for listeners as to whether or not he actually committed this heinous crime. Now, he might get the chance to prove his innocence once and for all in a new trial.

Adnan has been in prison for 18 years, and many people feel unfairly so. He has requested a new trial, and on March 29 he got one step closer to that becoming a reality. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld a lower court's order for a new trial on all of Adnan's charges. His lawyers think that he could soon be a free man. "If we go to trial, we will win that trial," Adnan's lawyer Justin Brown told CNN.

Murder victim Hae Min Lee.

However, just because the court ordered it doesn't necessarily mean Adnan will get a new trial. Prosecutors will once again have the ability to appeal and push the case even higher, but Brown is enthusiastic about the new trial, and so is Adnan. "He's happy, he's very happy," said the lawyer. "He's been waiting 18 years to hear this."

The new case could be granted on the grounds that Adnan's defense never cross-examined an expert on the reliability of cell phone towers to determine location, which is the main reason Adnan was convicted. The case also left out a deposition from a friend giving Adnan an alibi for the time of the murder. Brown seems determined to not make the same mistakes and to get Adnan the heck out of jail.