Serial podcast subject Adnan Syed suffered perhaps the biggest setback in his appeals case this year, when his conviction for the murder of Hae Min Lee was reinstated.
The 39-year-old has been serving a life sentence for the murder of his high school girlfriend since 2000 when he was aged 18.
Next year will mark 20 years since Adnan’s conviction and those still interested in the complex murder case are wondering if he’s any closer to getting a new trial.
Sky Crime’s critically-acclaimed series, The Case Against Adnan Syed, gave hope with revelations about new evidence, such as DNA testing.
But will it actually make a difference to Adnan’s appeals case?
Colin Miller is a co-host of Adnan Syed podcast Undisclosed and is close friends with Rabia Chaudry, the woman who brought Adnan’s case to the masses.
If there’s anyone who knows every fact there is to know about the case, it’s Colin who has spent the past five years conducting painstaking research in hopes of getting Adnan out of prison.
Next Monday (21 October) marks another big milestone in the seemingly never ending journey of Adnan’s appeal.
It’s the State of Maryland’s deadline to submit a response to the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling that Adnan’s conviction should be reinstated.
Colin, associate dean and professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, told Metro.co.uk: ‘Assuming [the state] don’t ask for a delay, we should know probably within the next month or two, whether the Supreme Court agrees to hear his case.’
But there’s a strong possibility the current stage of Adnan’s appeal won’t go any further at all due to the shocking process of the Supreme Court.
According to Colin: ‘The way the way it works in the United States is the Supreme Court does not hear the vast majority of appeals that they’re asked to hear.
‘They hear less than 1% of the actual case.
‘And so at this point Adnan and his team are just trying to get the Supreme Court to agree to hear the case, and that’s what’s being decided now. If they do, then there will be briefs filed by both sides.
‘There will be arguments before the justices, but it’s highly likely, unfortunately, at this point that the courts won’t even agree to hear his appeal in the case.’
Adnan’s conviction being reinstated by the State of Maryland back in March was a devastating blow to his family and legal team, after he had been granted a retrial in 2018.
The current appeal focuses on the ineffective assistance of counsel from Adnan’s former lawyer Cristina Guttierez, for allegedly failing to contact potential alibi witness Asia McClain.
Asia has always maintained that she saw Adnan in the school library at the time the state claim Hae was murdered.
But Colin is optimistic about other avenues of getting Adnan a trial, as he explains: ‘He has a few other options.
‘If you watch the Sky Crime series, there was DNA testing on some of the crime scene evidence. And one of them turned up a DNA profile for an identified female, so there could be additional DNA testing that might point in another direction.
‘However, there’s another procedure he can use now if the Supreme Court rules against him to get that back in court and Maryland’s to get the court to consider the substance of his cell tower pain claims. So there’s a few different options he has if the Supreme Court decides not to hear his case.’
Adnan’s chances of presenting new evidence in his appeal is thanks to Maryland’s writ of actual innocence, which says that if there is something new uncovered that wasn’t able to be presented before and shows the innocence of an individual, they’re allowed to use that to petition for a new trial.
‘So if someone else confessed or Jay Wilds, for instance, recanted his testimony against Adnan, those would be the types of things would allow for what’s known as a petition for writ of actual innocence,’ Colin said.
Although they aren’t currently focusing on the several inconsistencies in the account of the state’s star witness Jay Wilds, Colin explains that he’ll be an option if their current appeal hits a wall.
The legal expert said: ‘If this appeals to the Supreme Court doesn’t go through it’s sort of back to the drawing board to consider all options and one of those options will be trying to reach out to him and get him to recant.
‘There are ways you can do that so it doesn’t look like you’re pressuring the witness.’
He added: ‘Currently, if the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, it’s just going to be the alibi issue.
‘If the Supreme Court does not agree to hear the case, I think both the DNA and the cell tower issue would be prime candidates for making arguments to the courts in Maryland.’
The entire process seems exhausting for all involved – including Hae’s family who believe in Adnan’s guilt – but Colin is determined to fight as far as the justice system will allow.
‘We know it takes years but we’re in it for the long haul,’ Colin explained.
‘Oftentimes there are hopes and expectations, that get dashed but then you keep fighting and eventually sometimes justice comes so, not exhausted at all.’
The Case Against Adnan Syed is available to watch on Sky Crime.
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