The question of Syed's guilt or innocence is still up for debate, but Judge Martin Welch of Baltimore City Circuit Court granted a new trial in 2016 on the grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel by defense attorney Cristina Gutierrez, who passed away due to complications from multiple sclerosis and diabetes in 2004. Gutierrez was disbarred in 2001 for circumstances unrelated to Syed's case.
In a post-conviction relief hearing in late 2015, Judge Welch heard testimony from Asia McClain, a former classmate of the victim and defendant, who had come forward early on in proceedings as an alibi witness, but was not pursued by Syed's lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez, as a defense witness. Asia's testimony indicates she spoke with Syed in the library across the street from school during the time the state argues the defendant was killing his ex-girlfriend in a Best Buy parking lot several miles away.
Syed's current lawyer, C. Justin Brown, also argued that Gutierrez failed to provide adequate counsel when she did not cross-examine an expert witness regarding cell tower location evidence. The testimony, which was based on incomplete information provided by the district attorney, was instrumental in a jury finding Syed guilty.
The witness who testified that incoming call data could be used to accurately pinpoint a suspect's location was not provided with a cover sheet accompanying the call list, which explicitly stated incoming calls were unreliable for pinpointing location. At the conclusion of the post-conviction relief hearing, Judge Welch vacated Syed's conviction, finding that Gutierrez had provided ineffective counsel and that the call sheet evidence was compelling enough to have swayed at least one juror.
Since that ruling, the state has taken the case up the chain in Maryland's judicial system, with the state's second-highest court affirming Judge Welch's ruling. On November 29, 2018, the Maryland Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, heard oral arguments from the state and Syed's legal team. They have not yet published their decision but are expected to release their ruling in or before August 2019.
