Defense Lawyers' Group to SCOTUS: Hear Serial Case

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has asked the Supreme Court to review the case of a Maryland man convicted of murder in a case chronicled on the podcast Serial. News outlets report the group filed an amicus brief regarding Adnan Syed, per the AP. The brief says Syed wasn't given a proper opportunity to investigate an unbiased and credible alibi witness. Syed's lawyer during the 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, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. The brief also says the decision by Maryland's highest court to deny Syed a new trial and reinstate his conviction in the murder of his ex-girlfriend will impact criminal defendants "far beyond Maryland's borders." (Read more Serial stories.)