Adnan Syed’s lawyers file petition for Supreme Court to take up his case

A Maryland man serving a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend has taken his case to the Supreme Court. According to news reports, Adnan Syed’s lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to review his case last month. the Baltimore-based Syed was the subject of the popular podcast “Serial,” is serving a life sentence in the murder of Hae Min Lee in 1999.

CNN reports that the petition, filed by lawyers C. Justin Brown and Catherine Stetson along with other lawyers at the Washington law firm Hogan Lovells, “requests that the justices reverse a ruling by the Maryland Court of Appeals from March that refused to grant Syed a new trial as he serves a life sentence in the slaying of his ex-girlfriend.”

According to the CNN report, the petition read: “The facts of this case are eye-catching: One high school student murdered and another sentenced to life in prison. A prosecution witness with an inconsistent story and an alibi witness who never testified at trial.” It added that ”Syed’s case has inspired podcasts, a documentary, and countless news articles.”

Syed and Lee were seniors at Woodlawn in Baltimore County in January 1999, when she disappeared. According to news reports, Lee’s strangled body was discovered in a city forest three weeks later.

A jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City convicted Syed of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment on February 25, 2000. During the trial one of his friends, Jay Wilds, testified that he helped Syed dig a hole for Lee's body.

According to CBS Baltimore affiliate, When Syed asked for his case to be reviewed in Maryland, a judge vacated the murder conviction in 2016. In March, the Maryland Court of Appeals voted not to reopen the case, 4-3.