Hi and welcome to Undisclosed.

Today we're bringing you a special update on the Adnan Sayad case.

My name is Robi H. Jodhry. I'm an attorney and author, and I'm here with my colleagues, Susan Simpson and Colin Miller.

Hi, this is Susan Simpson. I'm an attorney in Washington, D.C., and I blog at The View from L.L.2.

Hi, this is Colin Miller. I'm an associate dean and professor at the University of

South Carolina School of Law, and I blog at Evidence Prof blog. Those of you who follow Adnan's

story might have noticed, there have been some recent legal developments in the case,

and we wanted to do an update episode letting you know the current status of the case and what to expect in the near future. But let's start by reorienting you regarding the status of his case

and what's been happening in the last couple of years. Now, almost two years ago, on June 30th,

2016, Judge Martin Welch of the Baltimore City Circuit Court entered an order and opinion that

granted Adnan a new trial.

The conviction is vacated. So think of it as the conviction is erased. It's gone.

He's not, as of this day, he's not convicted anymore. So if the state were to retry him, essentially, we would be starting from scratch.

I mean, the whole trial could potentially start again.

Judge Welch based his ruling on the cell tower evidence and not the evidence connected to

alibi witness, Asia McLean.

So he denied the Asia McLean issue and granted it on the

cell tower issue. Specifically, Judge Welch found that the crux of the state's case against Adnan

was the incoming calls to his cell phone that pinged the tower covering Lincoln Park and the

surrounding areas at 7.09 and 716 p.m. on the day that Hayman Lee disappeared.

Judge Welch found that trial attorney Christina Gutierrez provided ineffective assistance of counsel

based on failing to cross-examine the state's cell tower expert over an AT&T disclaimer, which stated

...