Maryland Court of Special Appeals to Consider Adnan Syed's Case

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals announced Tuesday that they will be considering an appeal for Serial‘s Adnan Syed. As reported in early December, this process has been underway for five years now. The court is considering an application for leave to appeal which the State of Maryland must respond to by January 14th.

The announcement was made via a press release from the Maryland courts.

As part of the post-conviction process, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals is considering an application for leave to appeal in Adnan Syed v. State of Maryland, No. 2519, September Term, 2013. The Court of Special Appeals has ordered the State of Maryland to respond to the application, and that response is due January 14. A decision on the application for leave to appeal will be made after the court reviews Syed’s application and the state’s response.

The release also also explained the grounds for the appeal and the process that will take place:

Maryland’s appellate courts (the Court of Special Appeals and the Court of Appeals) review a trial court’s actions and decisions and decide whether the trial judge properly followed the law and legal precedent. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals regularly reviews applications for leave to appeal under Maryland Rule 8-204. No oral arguments are heard in deciding an application for leave to appeal, although the court may hold oral arguments if the application is granted.

Often lost in the phenomenon that is Serial is the woman at the center of the whole thing: Hae Min Lee, who Adnan was found guilty of strangling to death. In a rather startling display of class and sympathy not often associated with the site, Reddit users are honoring the anniversary of Hae’s death today with a day of online of silence on the Serial subreddit.

Syed has been in prison for fifteen years serving a life sentence. While an approval of the appeal would undoubtably lead to another lengthly legal process, Syed and Serial fans will soon be getting some sort of closure or hope, one way or another.