Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

'Serial' suspect Adnan Syed's lawyer says prosecution evidence used in murder trial was unreliable

The lawyer filed a motion with a court

Andrew Buncombe
Monday 24 August 2015 17:18 EDT
Comments
Adnan Syed is serving life in prison for the murder of his girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999
Adnan Syed is serving life in prison for the murder of his girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The lawyer for a man jailed in a case that earned international publicity after being featured in the Serial podcast has filed a new motion – claiming cell phone evidence used against him was deemed unreliable by the phone company.

Adnan Syed’s lawyer C Justin Brown said incoming calls to his client's cell phone were cited by prosecutors as evidence that he was at Leakin Park when authorities believe the body of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, was buried, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Syed was convicted of the murder in 2000 and is currently serving a life sentence.

But Mr Brown said phone company AT&T explicitly included a warning about the accuracy of cell tower data on a fax cover sheet that read: “Outgoing calls only are reliable for location status. Any incoming calls will NOT be considered reliable information for location.”

Mr Brown said that this information had not been raised by Mr Syed’s previous lawyer.

“We feel that the fax cover sheet from AT&T is an extremely important piece of evidence and we are bringing it to the court's attention as quickly as possible,” he said. “We hope the court considers it.”

The Attorney General’s Office, which is handling the case, declined to comment, a spokesman said

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in