Adnan Syed‘s conviction for the 1999 murder of his high school girlfriend Hai Min Lee will once again be scrutinized in podcast form – this time by lawyer Rabia Chaudry, a fierce advocate of his.

New Adnan Syed Podcast

Chaudry, in conjunction with two other lawyers, is launching a podcast titled Undisclosed: The Stave v. Adnan Syed. With the help of Susan Simpson and Colin Miller, Chaudry hopes to bring “new evidence and information” to those who are still interested in Syed’s case.

“They’re still intrigued, they still want to know more,” Chaudry told the NewsHour of people who voraciously listened to Sarah Koenig‘s Serial podcast. “They want Serial to do updates, and Serial isn’t. So we will. Susan and Colin have been taking a closer look, and with their own private investigator, continuing the investigation.”

While Serial functioned as journalism delivered through an engaging narrative format, Chaudry says that Undisclosed will play for listeners as more of a straight-up investigation. As the three hosts are all lawyers, there will be further exploration of the legal system in regards to Syed’s case. Chaudry also hopes to expose some of the information she became privy to after Koenig’s podcast inspired other specialists to look into the evidence of the case.

“We’ve gotten so much feedback from cell experts saying, ‘That’s wrong,’ that it’s just impossible to pinpoint,” Chaudry said. “It makes for great storytelling, but we have to get to the truth.”

During and after the run of the popular Serial podcast, Chaudry engaged with those interested via a blog. Though there are still some podcast listeners checking in from time to time to see if there’s new information, Chaudry believes that she’ll be able to reach more people with a podcast. Since the Maryland Court of Special Appeals agreed to hear arguments to decide if Syed, who is serving a life sentence for Lee’s murder, should be permitted a new trial in February, it’s more important than ever to Chaudry to bolster support for him.

“They know there’s an appeal, but they’re not reading these blogs because it takes a bit of an investment,” she said of former Serial listeners. “The more public support we have in terms of skepticism toward the case, I think it has an impact on the case itself. That’s my goal.”

The first episode of Undisclosed: The State v. Adnan Syed will premiere April 13.

 

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Article by Chelsea Regan

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