Serial may have ended last December, but fascination with Adnan Syed's case continues, as new developments crop up every now and then. First, back in January, a Maryland court said it would consider Syed's appeal. Then, in February, he won his motion to appeal. And in May, another ruling paved the way for new evidence to be introduced (specifically the testimony of Asia McClain, who claims to have seen Adnan at the library during the window of time when authorities believe Hae Min Lee was murdered).
Fast forward to earlier today and more new information is being presented in court. Syed's new attorney, C. Justin Brown, filed a motion to "include proof that the cell tower evidence used against [Syed] was unreliable and should have been excluded from trial."
As Serial fans will likely remember, two incoming calls were said to place Adnan in the park where Lee's body was found. But, in a fax to Baltimore police, AT&T warned at the time that "Outgoing calls only are reliable for location status. Any incoming calls will not be considered reliable information for location."
Despite this information, the cell tower data was used, along with Jay Wilds' dubious testimony, to convict Syed. Adnan's lawyer at the time, Cristina Gutierrez, failed to do anything with the information from the AT&T document. "There is no imaginable way this could have been a strategic choice. It was human error," Brown argues. "It would be a miscarriage of justice...to allow Syed's conviction to stand when this evidence was used to obtain the conviction."
Now we must wait to find out whether or not the case will be officially reopened. Maryland has until September 8th to respond to today's motion. Stay tuned...
