A US judge last Thursday (30) ordered a new trial for a man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, whose case was turned into a global sensation by a hit podcast.
Adnan Syed, 35, the son of Pakistani immigrants, was sentenced to life imprisonment 16 years ago for the murder of Hae Min Lee in Baltimore.
The case was largely ignored in the media until it was taken up by weekly podcast Serial and turned into a blockbuster when an American journalist revisited the story and queried Syed’s guilt.
Judge Martin Welch in Baltimore granted Syed’s request for a new trial in a court document issued last Thursday.
“We won a new trial for Adnan Syed,” tweeted his defence lawyer Justin Brown.
Maryland state prosecutors had fought against the move, insisting that Syed was given a fair defence.
At trial, prosecutors argued a jealous Syed strangled Lee after school in the car park of a electronics store.
