Asia McClain may be called to the stand in the case of the murder of Hae Min Lee, after all. On Monday, a state judge ruled that the case made famous by your favorite podcast is heading back to Baltimore City Circuit Court to consider Asia McClain’s alibi.
In Episode 1 of Serial, Sarah Koenig’s reporting unearthed an alibi from McClain, who said she remembered seeing Syed in a public library in Woodlawn on the afternoon of Hae Min Lee’s murder. In court papers this year, Syed’s legal team argued that the affidavit containing McClain’s statement was reason enough to grant Syed a new trial.
Monday’s order from Judge Peter B. Krauser of the Maryland Special Court of Appeals does not, by any means, grant Syed a new trial. However, the order does require Baltimore City to submit McClain’s affidavit so it is officially a part of the record in the case. In one way or another, McClain must be heard.
The move “will afford the parties the opportunity to supplement the record with relevant documents and even testimony pertinent to the issues raised by this appeal,” the order states.
That essentially raises the possibility that McClain will testify in court. In the original trial, she never took the stand. court is saying getting her statements on record is “in the interest of justice.”
It’s not a new trial, and it’s definitely not a reversal. But for a case that Koenig said was hanging on by “a thread,” it’s a start.
