how did adnan syed's lawyer die

What happened to Adnan Syed’s case?

Adnan Syed following the completion of the first day of hearings for a retrial in Baltimore on February 3, 2016. Starting in 2003, Syed appealed his case but to no avail.

Who was Adnan Syed’s first lawyer?

Who Was Adnan Syed's First Lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez? In 2014, Adnan Syed 's controversial case became a national sensation when Serial was released—fourteen years after he was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, and sentenced to life in prison.

Who is Syed Syed and why was he convicted of murder?

At the time, the prosecution argued that Syed, a gifted and popular student, then aged 18, had strangled Lee in a fit of rage because he was annoyed she'd dumped him. Despite denying the allegations in February 2000, Syed - a Muslim of Pakistani descent - was convicted of first-degree murder.

Who is Adnan Syed and how old is he?

Who is Adnan Syed? Born May 21, 1981, Syed, 40, is known as a convicted criminal. In 1999, Syed was in a relationship with Hae Min Lee who was later found dead in a shallow grave in a Baltimore park at the age of 17.

Who was Adnan Syed's attorney?

His original murder conviction was overturned in June 2016 after a court found that Syed's trial attorney, Cristina Gutierrez, failed to cross-examine the prosecution's cell tower expert about the reliability of location data for incoming calls.

How did Cristina Gutierrez fail Adnan?

Two Maryland courts found that Syed deserved a new trial. His lawyer during his first trial, Cristina Gutierrez, failed to contact a woman who said she saw Syed at a library at the time prosecutors say he strangled his ex-girlfriend in 1999. Gutierrez has since died.

Where is Adnan today?

Adnan Syed, who is serving life in prison in Maryland for the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee, still insists on his innocence and is seeking a sentence reduction.

Who said she saw Adnan at the library?

One such issue is the story of Asia McClain, who said back then that she'd seen Syed at the library on the day prosecutors claimed that he murdered his former high school sweetheart, Lee.

What was wrong with Adnan's lawyer?

On May 24, 2001, the Maryland Court of Appeals announced Gutierrez had been disbarred (by consent). Gutierrez had agreed to the disbarment, citing numerous health problems including multiple sclerosis (MS).

Who is Rabia Why is she involved in the case serial?

Rabia Chaudry is an attorney, advocate, and author of the New York Times bestselling book "Adnan's Story" and Executive Producer of a four-part HBO documentary "The Case Against Adnan Syed."

How old is Adnan Syed now?

41 years (May 21, 1981)Adnan Syed / Age

How old was Adnan Syed when he killed Hae?

Murder of Hae Min LeeHae Min LeeBornOctober 15, 1980 South KoreaDisappearedJanuary 13, 1999 (aged 18)DiedMaryland, United StatesCause of deathManual strangulation3 more rows

What happened undisclosed podcast?

It has been an amazing seven years, but as all good things come to an end, so is #Undisclosed. Don't miss our podcast finale "It's A Wrap" with case updates and what's coming next for the team! omny.fm/shows/undisclo… listeners but we are finally ending the show.

Who is Mr S in Serial?

worker Alonzo SellersMaintenance worker Alonzo Sellers, known as “Mr. S” on Serial, claimed he was drinking a 22-ounce Budweiser while driving when he made a pit stop. “I had to go to the bathroom so I pulled over and I went further in the woods so no one could see me,” he said on The Case Against Adnan Syed.

Who is Jay in Serial?

Jay Wilds, the main witness in a case that put then-18-year-old Adnan Syed into jail for the murder of his ex girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999, has done an interview with The Intercept and changed his story.

Who is Stephanie in Serial?

Fans of Serial will remember that Stephanie was one of Adnan's best friends and was dating Jay at the time of Hae's murder. But while she made a statement to police at the time, she has never spoken publicly about what happened.

What happened to Adnan Syed?

HBO. In 2014, Adnan Syed 's controversial case became a national sensation when Serial was released—fourteen years after he was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, and sentenced to life in prison. His story is now being re-examined in HBO's The Case Against Adnan Syed, which picks up where the immensely popular 2014 podcast left off.

When did Syed get his murder conviction reinstated?

On Friday, March 8 , Syed's murder conviction was reinstated by the Maryland Court of Appeals. The court reinstated Syed’s conviction Friday, agreeing that while his defense was deficient, it “did not prejudice” the case. He will not get a new trial.

How did Gutierrez die?

After Gutierrez died in 2004, a U.S. district judge ruled that Gutierrez made a serious mistake in a separate case. Gutierrez died of a heart attack in 2004. Six years later, a U.S. district judge ruled that Gutierrez failed to offer John Joseph Merzbacher, a Catholic school teacher, a 10-year plea deal in a child rape case in the 1990s. ...

Is Adnan Syed's case re-examined?

His story is now being re-examined in HBO's The Case Against Adnan Syed, which picks up where the immensely popular 2014 podcast left off. His original murder conviction was overturned in June 2016 after a court found that Syed’s trial attorney, Cristina Gutierrez, failed to cross-examine the prosecution’s cell tower expert about the reliability ...

Did Gutierrez put money into a trust account?

Later, a commission found that she didn't put client money into a designated trust account. Gutierrez was reportedly "disbarred by consent" in May 2001, and none of the negligent client claims were investigated because she willingly signed the disbarment. That was a year after she represented Syed.

Did Gutierrez focus on evidence?

Many armchair detectives have come to agree that the late Gutierrez—once considered a top Baltimore criminal defense lawyer—did not focus on the appropriate evidence, and theorize that the case could have gone differently if she had. Here's everything you need to know about Syed's controversial first attorney.

Did Gutierrez contact an alibi witness?

In November, state prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah acknowledged Gutierrez did not contact an alibi witness in Syed's case, but believes the attorney understood what that witness, Asia McClain, told her at the time.

Who sued Gutierrez?

As Koenig discussed in Thursdays episode, the Whitmans were among the former clients who ultimately sued Gutierrez for misplaced funds. Ron and Sue Whitman hired Gutierrez to defend their son in 2000, in a horrifically tragic case; their older of their two boys, Zach, was charged with killing his 13-year-old brother Greg, by stabbing him 65 times in the neck with a pen knife. Halfway through the trial, Ron and Sue fired Cristina. In 2003, Whitman was convicted to life in prison. The latest of his numerous appeals throughout the years took place in January of this year, which he lost.

How many life sentences did Gutierrez get?

He was found guilty and given four life sentences. Some information in 2010 came out that could've set him free that had to do with an error on Gutierrez's part. According to an article in the Baltimore Sun, prosecutors offered Merzbacher's counsel a 10-year reduced sentence with a plea bargain.

What happened to Gloria Gutierrez?

Before she passed away in 2004 of a heart attack, Gutierrez had a reputation in the community for being at the top of her game, and came to Adnan's family with high recommendations. Still, the fact remains that Gutierrez was accused of corruption when hundreds of thousands of dollars of client money went missing.

How much did John McLean steal from Baltimore?

McLean was accused of stealing $25,000 from Baltimore tax payers by reporting an employee on payroll who did not exist. Ultimately, McLean pled guilty, was given a 3-year suspended sentence, and resigned from public office in disgrace later that year.

Did Gutierrez keep Adnan out of jail?

Whether she was effected by ailing health (she had diabetes and MS) or plain greed, it seems that Gutierrez didn't do everything in her power to keep Adnan out of jail.

Who was Syed's lawyer?

Syed claimed that his attorney at the time, Cristina Gutierrez, did not look into an alibi witness, Asia McClain, who said she was with Syed at Woodlawn High School's library at the time of the murder. In addition to McClain, Syed's appeals lawyer also brought into consideration the unreliability of the cell tower records evidence from ...

Who is Adnan Syed?

Adnan Syed is a Muslim-American man who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999. His case became internationally famous by the podcast "Serial" in 2014.

How did Hae Min Lee die?

Four weeks later, her half-buried body was found at Leakin Park by a passerby. According to autopsy reports, she died of manual strangulation.

When will Syed be retried?

In June 2016 Syed was granted a retrial by a Baltimore city circuit court judge, and in March 2018 the Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld that decision. However, on March 8, 2019, the Maryland Court of Appeals denied Syed a new trial.

What was the cause of Lee's death?

Lee disappeared on January 13, 1999, and her half-buried body was found one month later in a nearby city park. The cause of her death was manual strangulation. In February 2000, Syed was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with an additional 30 years.

What is the HBO documentary about Adnan Syed?

In March 2019, HBO also launched a four-part documentary entitled The Case Against Ad nan Syed, based on the case's evolution since its broadcast on "Serial.".

Where is Syed from?

Syed was born on May 21, 1981, in Baltimore, Maryland to conservative Muslim parents, Shamim and Syed Rahman. As the middle child, Syed is one of three sons, the oldest being Tanveer and the younger being Yusuf. At Woodlawn High School, Syed was popular and a straight-A student.

Who was Syed's classmate?

McClain, a high school classmate of Syed’s, testified at his 2016 post-conviction hearing that she was in the library with Syed after school during the time prosecutors said he killed Lee at 2:36 p.m. Shortly after Syed’s arrest, McClain wrote Syed two letters reminding him about their time that day.

What is the book Adnan's Story about?

She now has written a book, Adnan’s Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial, in which she questions the innocence of Don Clinedinst, Lee’s boyfriend at the time of her death, and lays out new details that she believes exonerate Syed.

Why was Clinedinst cleared?

Early in the investigation, Clinedinst was quickly cleared by police because he had an alibi – he was working his job at LensCrafters, filling in for a lab technician at a different store location. Chaudry tells PEOPLE that Lee told a classmate she was to see Clinedinst after school the day she disappeared.

Who killed Hae Min Lee?

Image. Credit: Eric Ogden. After the 2014 podcast Serial became a worldwide sensation, many were left doubting that convicted murderer Adnan Syed was guilty of killing former high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999, when Syed was 17. The Syed family friend who brought the case to the attention of Serial producer Sarah Koenig is certain they got ...

Did Syed dump soil in Lee's car?

Wilds testified that after he and Syed buried Lee, Syed drove Lee’s car from the park to a nearby street and dumped it. Yet no soil from Leakin Park was ever found in or on Lee’s car in tests conducted by the Baltimore Police crime lab, Chaudry tells PEOPLE. • Lack of DNA and Other Non-Circumstantial Evidence.

When did Syed and Lee break up?

December 1998: Syed and Lee breakup. While their relationship was kept a secret because of both religious and cultural differences, classmates Syed and Lee dated in 1998, and broke up in December of that year, according to court records.

Who called Syed about Lee?

It’s while he’s there that Officer Scott Adcock calls Syed asking if he knew where Lee was. The student told the official that “he was suppose [d] to get a ride home from the victim, but he got detained at school and felt that she just got tired of waiting and left,” according to the 2019 appeal.

How long is Syed waiting for a new trial?

However, Syed is not allowed out on bail while he waits for the new trial. He ends up waiting more than two years.

Why was the McClain case reopened?

The case is reopened to take into account McClain’s new testimony, new cell phone data and allegations of “ineffective assistance of counsel” as well as “prosecutorial misconduct,” according to Harper’s Bazaar.

What did the Maryland Court of Appeals vote to reverse?

In a sudden twist, the Maryland Court of Appeals votes 4 to 3 to reverse the decision, denying a new trial saying, “There is not a significant or substantial possibility that the verdict would have been different,” the Associated Press reported.

Who is the Baltimore City police detective who is investigating Lee's ex-boyfriend?

Baltimore City police detective Darryl Massey received two anonymous phone calls telling him to look into Lee’s ex-boyfriend as a possible suspect, Undisclosed: The State vs. Adnan Syed reported. There was a reward of $3,075 from CrimeStoppers for information on the case leading to the indictment.

Did Wilds say he killed Lee?

In his testimony at the second trial, he says that he and Syed drove to Security Square Mall and claims that Syed reportedly told him he was going to kill Lee.

Who is Adnan's mother?

It's immediately evident that Adnan's time in prison has taken a severe emotional toll on the family: Adnan's mother, Shamim, even says, "A big part of us died... we thought he was gone forever.". His father, Syed Rahman, also appears onscreen, talking about the pain Adnan's imprisonment has caused him and his family.

Who is the preppy killer?

Robert Chambers Jr. "The Preppy Killer," Explained. In the first episode of HBO's new docu-series "The Case Against Adnan Syed," viewers meet a family clearly still devastated and reeling from Hae Min Lee's murder case. But it's not Lee's family viewers get to know: It's the family of Adnan Syed, the man convicted of her murder.

Is Adnan's mom a pillar of strength?

But as Chaudry explained to Oxygen.com , "It’s Adnan’s mom who just became a sort of pillar of strength.". She and Yusef have continued to publicly advocate for Adnan, even going on "CBS This Morning" in November 2014 at the height of "Serial" popularity to reaffirm their belief in his innocence.

Is the case against Adnan Syed a podcast?

Now, several years later, "The Case Against Adnan Syed" is revealing new aspects of the now-infam ous murder case. While the Syed family didn't make an appearance in the podcast, they do show up early on in the docu-series.

Who Is Adnan Syed?

See more on biography.com

Relationship with Hae Min Lee

Hae Min Lee's Murder

Arrest, Trial and Conviction

Appeals

Adnan Syed in The Media

Family Life