Adnan Syed’s murder case, the focal point of the first season of popular podcast Serial, will be presented to an appeals court in January.

‘Serial’ Case Going To Appeal Court

Fifteen years ago, Syed, then aged 19, was found guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee when they were both seniors at a Baltimore area high school. This American Life producer Sarah Koenig, who previously worked for the Baltimore Sun, has been reinvestigating the murder and Syed’s conviction on slim evidence in spinoff podcast Serial. The podcast and Syed’s story has fascinated listeners, which number 1.5 million per installment.

In the midst of the podcast’s popularity, the very real legal process is still underway. Come January, an appeals court will once again hear Syed and his lawyer attempt to prove that he should not be serving out a life sentence for Lee’s murder.

“It’s an unusual phenomenon. The court of Special Appeals has shown some interest in the case and asked the state to respond to our application, which is more than they usually do in this procedural posture,” Syed’s current lawyer, C. Justin Brown said. “But I truly think the appellate courts make their decisions based on the merits of the case, and not the popularity of a podcast.”

Brown went on to note that this upcoming appeal could be Syed’s last real chance to prove to the courts that he’s wrongfully imprisoned.  He said, “There are three parts to the legal process: a trial, then an appeal, then you have post-conviction relief. This is the last step.”

Brown is not necessarily burdened with proving that Syed did not kill Lee. Rather, he hopes to show that Syed’s trial lawyer Cristina Gutierrez dropped the ball during his initial case when she did not question Syed’s former classmate Asia McClaine, who had provided an alibi for Syed during the time the police said Lee had been murdered. Brown further plans to show Gutierrez’s suspect counsel by arguing that she never presented Syed with plea deal options.

Emily Condon, who works as a production manager on Serial, has tried to distance the podcast from the proceedings, claiming that the progress in Syed’s case has nothing to do with Koenig’s work. “None of this, in any way, has anything to do with our reporting on this story,” Condon told People in an emailed statement. “The post-conviction petition pre-dated this story, and Serial has nothing to do with his appeal, or the appellate court’s order.”