According to The Baltimore Sun, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear an appeal from Adnan Syed, the man who was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 2000 and whose criminal case was the subject of the groundbreaking first season of the Serial podcast. Syed has been serving a life sentence since being convicted nearly 20 years ago, but partially thanks to the popularity of Serial, his case has regularly been reexamined. As laid out on the podcast and other podcasts and HBO’s take on the subject, there were some notable inconsistencies with the prosecution’s case against Syed, including questionable witnesses and evidence, and the inconsistencies have seemingly become more apparent as time goes on and additional witnesses come forward.
Either way, the Supreme Court has denied the appeal and so Syed will remain in prison. His lawyer says Syed’s defense is “deeply disappointed” in this decision, but this is “by no means” the end. Meanwhile, Maryland Attorney General Brian Fosh pushed for the Supreme Court to reject the appeal, saying that the evidence against Syed is “overwhelming.” With this Supreme Court decision, Syed’s chances to overturn the conviction are running out, but a law professor named David Jaros told the Sun that his best bet now might be to try and get pardoned by Maryland’s governor, citing general concerns about his original trial and the fact that he was a teenager when he was convicted.