Adnan Syed Update: ‘Serial’ Subject’s Family Remains Positive, Appeal Decision Looms

The Serial podcast may have posted its last episode in mid-December, but people continue to buzz about Adnan Syed, the murder of Hae Min Lee, Sarah Koenig, and everybody else tied to the case and the record-breaking podcast. Syed’s family now says that they feel they have some hope and a big decision regarding an appeal is expected to come out this week.

Sarah Koenig and her team put together the Serial podcast after spending months digging into the case of Hae Min Lee’s death. Her former boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was convicted of killing her, but he maintains his innocence. The NPR podcast sparked intense discussions about the case that continue today.

People shares that Adnan’s family still believes that they can clear Syed’s name. His mother, Shamim Rahman, says that they know he didn’t kill Lee and they are feeling excited and have a bit of hope. More from his family is expected to be shared in the new issue of the magazine coming out this week.

Does Adnan Syed’s family have reason to feel hopeful? As ABC 2 News out of Baltimore shares, they might. Syed filed an appeal application with the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and a state response is expected to come out any minute.

In addition to the application in Maryland, the Innocence Project has indicated it is trying to get the case reopened. Serial listeners heard a bit about this during the podcast, and their work on the case continues.

As the University of Virginia School of Law website noted in late December, those working on the project at UVA are planning to file a request for forensic testing on the case, which could shed new light on what happened to Lee 15 years ago.

The Serial podcast ended with plenty of loose ends and listeners passionately defending their take on what went down that day that Lee died. Did Adnan Syed do it or is he innocent? There are many dedicated Serial threads on Reddit, with posters still sorting through the details and sharing theories, and some interesting tidbits have come up since Koenig’s series ended.

Jay Wilds, the key witness talked about extensively throughout Serial, has since done an interview with a different site called the Intercept. His story regarding how the day Lee died played out varies wildly compared to what he said at the time, raising many eyebrows.

In addition, as Salon notes, prosecutor Kevin Urick has connected with the Intercept and alleged that Koenig wasn’t particularly vigilant in reaching out to him. Those behind Serial have stood behind their work, having issued a statement to the Intercept and maintaining via Twitter that they did everything they could to interview Wilds, Urick, and others for the show during their initial investigation.

While those who have followed the Serial podcast can’t agree on what happened that day in 1999 when Hae Min Lee died, there are several schools of thought and people are passionate about their take on it all. Did Adnan Syed kill Lee? Was he framed by Jay Wilds? Did Syed perhaps do it, but did the prosecutor fail to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt?

Many Serial podcast fans will be quite curious to see what comes out of this appeal application. Will the case be reopened and Syed get to have his case looked at again? If the state denies the current request, will further investigation into Hae Min Lee’s death, and Adnan Syed’s supposed involvement in it, reveal anything substantially new?

[Image via Glamour]