how did lawyer cristina gutierrez die

What happened to Cristina Gutierrez?

According to her son Roberto, Gutierrez had begun experiencing the effects of MS in 1999, complicated by diabetes. She started to lose her vision and memory. By 2003, she was using a wheelchair and couldn't remember her son's name. She died on January 30, 2004, in Towson, Maryland, after having a heart attack.

Who was Adnan Syed lawyer?

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.

What kind of lawyer is Rabia?

About. Rabia Chaudry is an attorney, advocate, 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." Rabia is also co-producer and co-host of two podcasts, Undisclosed and The 45th.

Who saw Adnan in 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.

How did Gutierrez die?

Gutierrez is not around to defend herself, however, because she passed away a few years after the case. Her 2004 death was a result of a heart attack , according to her obituary. She was 52. Gutierrez had been suffering from multiple sclerosis, which some speculate may have impacted her performance on Syed's case.

Who defended everyone from allegedly corrupt city officials to accused kid killers to serial child molesters to teachers

Gutierrez defended everyone from allegedly corrupt city officials to accused kid killers to serial child molesters to teachers charged with sexually assaulting their students. “ [Gutierrez] had a tremendous reputation,” Petit told Oxygen.com.

When did the case against Adnan Syed air?

Now, HBO’s four-part docuseries “The Case Against Adnan Syed” which premiered on March 10, two days after Syed's conviction was upheld, picks up right where “Serial” left off. Much like the podcast, the Amy Berg-directed film also reexamines Gutierrez's role in Syed's original conviction.

Did Gutierrez mishandle his case?

Syed has long maintained that Gutierrez mishandled his case over her failure to investigate his alibi Asia McClain, who claimed she saw Syed in her high school library at the time of the murder. Syed claimed Gutierrez told him at the time that she had investigated the alibi, but “nothing came of it.”.

When did Michael Jackson first notice his mother's sclerosis?

However, in 2015, he told The Sun he first noticed the early symptoms of his mother's multiple sclerosis in the late '90s, shortly before she took the Syed case. "If my mom didn't give him a good defense, I hope he gets a good defense," he told Sun reporter Justin George in 2015. "I know that was her intention.

Did Gutierrez cross-examine the prosecution?

Syed’s attorneys also allege Gutierrez didn’t cross-examine the prosecution’s cell phone tower expert, who placed him at the crime scene using cell phone tower records, which Syed's team now argues is unreliable evidence.

Did Syed waive his right to a new trial?

The court also ruled Syed waived his right to raise the ineffective counsel claim. The decision reverses a 2018 ruling from a lower court, which granted Syed the right to a new trial over Gutierrez's alleged missteps.

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. ...

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.

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.

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.

Who represented Laurie Susanne Cook?

In 1993, Gutierrez represented Laurie Susanne Cook, Anne Arundel, Maryland school teacher who was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old male student. Cook was 33 at the time. "We're vehemently denying the charges," Gutierrez told the Baltimore Sun. "It's not unusual... in the context of the hysteria at Northeast, to have created an accusation out of nothing." The hysteria she's referring to is the case of Walter Price, a 49-year-old Social Studies teacher who was convicted of sexually abusing a student at the very same school just a few months earlier. Cook was ultimately acquitted, but subsequently lost her job in 1995.

Was Cristina Gutierrez a public defender?

Finally, we get to learn a little more about the curious case of Cristina Gutierrez and her past as a public defender, deepening our general confusion about what her strategy was with Adnan's case. According to her peers, Gutierrez was apparently a star in her prime.

Was Gutierrez accused of corruption?

Still, the fact remains that Gutierrez was accused of corruption when hundreds of thousands of dollars of client money went missing. While Adnan still trusts and reveres her, some things just don't seem right.

What did Koenig say about Gutierrez?

Koenig says, without exaggeration, that if Gutierrez had not lost her temper at that moment, Adnan’s entire life could have been different. 3. Why the Second Trial Was Even Worse. It is astonishing in Koenig’s recordings how inarticulate and borderline incompetent professionals can sound in real life.

How did Adnan die?

But the evidence of Adnan’s case seems to indicate that, while representing him, she was already in decline, health- and career-wise. She died of a heart attack in 2004 after suffering from complications from diabetes and MS. There is, at least, the glimmer of a silver lining.

Did Gutierrez use reasonable doubt?

In the first case, Gutierrez might have been able to use reasonable doubt to Adnan’s advantage. Gutierrez’s law clerks polled the jury afterwards and discovered that, even after hearing the bulk of the state’s case, the jurors had not been persuaded of Adnan’s guilt. Unfortunately, the jury never got to deliberate.

Who is Adnan's lawyer?

Although Adnan retains affection for his lawyer, Christina Gutierrez, who was once a force to be reckoned with in the Baltimore area, he acknowledges that “she never really mentioned what her plan would be. I never really knew what it would be.” As Koenig plays more and more tape from both trials, this becomes painfully apparent. Inasmuch as she had a strategy at all, it boiled down to four words: “Someone else did it.”

Did Koenig apologize for visions of honor killings?

Later, she has to send a letter of correction to the judge admitting that she spoke based on incorrect information, though Koenig points out that there is a factual error even in her apology. The prosecutor isn’t the only one carried away by visions of honor killings. Koenig hears the same from at least two jurors.

Will the US extradite Adnan?

At that point, the U.S. government will be helpless to extradite him.

Did Adnan have an appeal?

That’s not quite true. He had an initial appeal, which was de nied. And he had a hearing for post-conviction relief, also denied. But he appealed that denial to a higher court, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, and recently that court ordered the state to respond to one aspect of Adnan’s petition by January 14.