Syed has spent more than 18 years behind bars for a murder he claims he did not commit.
Adnan Syed, whose murder conviction was the subject of the popular "Serial" podcast, has been granted a new trial.
Syed has spent more than 18 years behind bars for a murder he claims he did not commit. In 2000, he was convicted of killing his former high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, and leaving her body in Baltimore's Leakin Park.
In the murder trial that followed, he was sentenced to life in prison. While incarcerated, his story caught the attention of journalist Sarah Koenig, who told his story and conducted further investigation and interviews in "Serial."
On Thursday, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling granting him new trial. The three-judge panel determined he had received ineffective assistance by his counsel during his murder trial.
The ruling can still be heard in the Court of Appeals.
It comes after a post-conviction relief hearing in 2016, which included testimony from Asia McClain Chapman, who said she spoke to Syed in the library at the time prosecutors say he was killing Lee.
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