'Serial' Subject Adnan Syed's Conviction Has Been Upheld By Maryland's Highest Court: Here's What That Means

Adnan Syed will not get another trial. The Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, announced Friday Syed's conviction will be upheld after a 4-3 vote. This comes just two days before HBO is scheduled to premiere a documentary, The Case Against Adnan Syed, on the 1999 homicide, which first gained notoriety in the 2014 podcast Serial.

Syed is in prison for life for the murder of his ex-girlfriend and high school classmate, Hae Min Lee. His conviction was previously overturned by two lower courts, but appealed by prosecutors each time. With the Maryland Court of Appeal's decision, Syed will remain in prison.

In the appeal, Syed had argued ineffective assistance of trial counsel, saying that his original attorney had failed to contact a potential alibi witness that Syed had identified. The majority of the Court of Appeals concluded that while the trial counsel did indeed fail in this regard, it wasn't sufficient to change the course of the case.

The potential witness, a woman named Asia McClain, had claimed she saw Syed at a library during the time Lee is believed to have been murdered. This lead was never followed-up on by Syed's attorney. However, prosecutors have repeatedly pointed out that Syed never made a statement to investigators that he'd gone to the library. Thus, in the state's view, McClain's testimony would have run counter to Syed's own statements.

This decision comes as a shock to many of Syed's supporters. Rabia Chaurdy, a lawyer and family friend of the Syed family, told Newsweek Thursday she expected his conviction to be, yet again, overturned.

"We really think we're going to win for the third time and he'll get his conviction overturned, yet one more time," she explained.

Chaudry also said Syed was in good spirits. "He's feeling good," she said of Syed's hope in the decision. "He knows that the truth is on his side, so anytime there's more and more digging in the case, it's good for him. We anticipate the appellate court making a decision soon. We're hoping that this series will help put all of this to rest. I don't think it will have an impact on the judges necessarily, but there's something about having more attention on a case that makes the court more careful about their ruling."

Both Serial and The Case Against Adnan Syed aimed to shine a light at the holes in the case. The prosecution's star witness in convicting Syed, Jay Wilds, told multiple different versions of Syed's role in Lee's murder. Chaudry said Syed's legal team has new evidence they haven't shared in either media project, as it could be helpful to them in court. Now, they won't immediately have the opportunity to share their findings.

With the highest court of Maryland rejecting to overturn his conviction, Syed's appellate options at the state level appear to be exhausted. He may now aim to take his case to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Syed's lawyer, Justin Brown, tweeted his support after the ruling, writing, "We will not give up. #FreeAdnan."

New details about his case, and the argument to doubt Syed's conviction, can be seen in The Case Against Adnan Syed, which premieres at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Sunday.