The Latest: ‘Serial’ podcast victim’s family gives statement

By The Associated Press

BALTIMORE – The Latest on a hearing for a convicted murderer seeking a new trial in a case that was examined in the podcast “Serial.” (all times local):

5:40 p.m.

The family of a young woman whose 1999 murder was examined in the podcast “Serial” has issued a statement, as the man convicted of killing her seeks a new trial.

In the statement, read aloud during a news conference by Maryland Deputy Attorney General Thiru Vignarajah, the family of Hae Min Lee said it has “lived without a heart for 17 years,” adding that Lee’s immediate family decided not to attend the three-day hearing for Adnan Syed, who was convicted of her murder in 2000.

The statement says the family believes justice was done when Syed was convicted. It calls Hae “the true victim,” and says the family looks forward to closing this chapter so her memory can be celebrated “instead of celebrating the man who killed her.”

A three-day hearing began Wednesday in Baltimore for Syed, who is serving a life sentence for murder. The public radio podcast raised questions about the fairness of Syed’s trial.

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4:15 p.m.

An alibi witness for a convicted murderer profiled in the public radio podcast “Serial” has testified that a former Maryland prosecutor misled her about the importance of her testimony and that he later gave a misleading account of their conversation when he testified about it during a hearing.

Asia McClain, now known as Asia Chapman, testified Wednesday during a hearing for Adnan Syed, who was convicted of murder and is seeking a new trial.

Chapman has said she saw Syed in a library within the time prosecutors contend he was killing his high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. But she was never called to testify at his trial.

Chapman told the court that when she talked by phone with then-prosecutor Kevin Urick in 2010, he told her that her testimony wasn’t important, and he persuaded her that Syed must be guilty. She says Urick later testified during Syed’s first post-conviction hearing that she admitted her story was false — but she says she made no such admission.

A three-day hearing began Wednesday in Baltimore for Syed, who is serving a life sentence for murder. Syed is seeking a new trial.

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1:30 p.m.

A witness says the former defence attorney for a convicted murderer profiled in the public radio podcast “Serial” was plagued by health problems.

William Kanwisher, an attorney who worked with Cristina Gutierrez about the same time she represented Adnan Syed, testified Wednesday that she had a reputation as “an accomplished and fierce advocate” but her health issues impaired her ability to defend her clients.

Kanwisher said he ended up carrying the majority of the workload because of Gutierrez’s health issues, and that the firm was suffering from financial problems.

A three-day hearing began Wednesday in Baltimore for Syed, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. Syed is seeking a new trial and claims Gutierrez provided ineffective counsel.

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Noon

An attorney for a convicted murderer profiled in the public radio podcast “Serial” says a previous defence lawyer’s failure to call an alibi witness at trial amounted to “ineffective counsel.” But a Maryland prosecutor says the decision not to call the witness may have been wise, and was at the very least permissible.

A three-day hearing began Wednesday in Baltimore for 35-year-old Adnan Syed, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. Syed is seeking a new trial.

Syed’s attorney Justin Brown told Judge Martin Welch that previous defence attorney Cristina Gutierrez made a key mistake in failing to call Asia McClain, who claimed to have seen Syed at a library during the time of the killing. But prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah with the Maryland attorney general’s office said there were reasons to think McClain might not be reliable.

The podcast raised questions about the fairness of Syed’s trial. A state appeals court later granted a hearing on the possibility of a new trial.

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3 a.m.

A convicted murderer who was the focus of a popular podcast is returning to court to argue he deserves another trial and a new chance at freedom.

The podcast “Serial” revolved around the story of Adnan Syed, now 35 and serving a life sentence. At 19 he was convicted of strangling his high school girlfriend in a wooded park on the northwestern edge of Baltimore. The show raised questions about the fairness of Syed’s trial in Hae Min Lee’s death.

The hearing, scheduled to last three days before Baltimore Circuit Judge Martin Welch, is meant to determine whether Syed’s conviction will be overturned and case retried.

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