--- description: A friend never called to testify at Adnan Syed's trial may get to speak. title: Subject of 'Serial' Podcast Gets a Break in His Case image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Subject of _Serial_ Podcast Gets a Break in His Case by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 19, 2015 2:15 AM CUT by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 19, 2015 2:15 AM CUT The central subject of the popular podcast ‘Serial’ [received](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/order20150518.pdf "undefined") a break in favor of his case on Monday after an appeals court in Maryland ruled that his request for relief following his conviction can be reopened in a circuit court. Adnan Syed, who was jailed after being convicted in 2000 of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, will receive a new hearing that could bring testimony from someone who was never called to testify at his original trial, the Huffington Post [reports](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/18/serial-asia-mcclain%5Fn%5F7307756.html "undefined"). The case of Syed, who has always maintained his innocence, gained notoriety after millions tuned into the ‘Serial’ podcast. On Monday, the Maryland Court Of Special Appeals granted Syed’s request to have his case remanded to a circuit court, which could open the door for more review and possibly the testimony of Asia McClain, a high school friend who claimed to have seen Syed during the time authorities said he committed the murder, which could give him an alibi. The Baltimore _Sun_ [reports](http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-serial-appeal-20150518-story.html "undefined") that Syed’s attorneys have 45 days to file a motion in Baltimore Circuit Court requesting the hearing so McClain can testify. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3883080/serial-adnan-syed-asia-mcclain-court/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3883080/serial-adnan-syed-asia-mcclain-court/"},"headline":"Subject of Serial Podcast Gets a Break in His Case","datePublished":"2015-05-19T02:15:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:25:37.730Z","description":"A friend never called to testify at Adnan Syed's trial may get to speak","url":"https://time.com/3883080/serial-adnan-syed-asia-mcclain-court/","keywords":["Crime","Asia","Podcast"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3883080/serial-adnan-syed-asia-mcclain-court/","name":"Subject of Serial Podcast Gets a Break in His Case"}}]}] ```