Adnan Syed, the imprisoned man and subject of Serial, has been granted an appeal for January 2015.
Syed, whose story has been popularized by Sarah Koenig's podcast, was found guilty of murdering ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 2000. In recent months, Koenig has told the story of how Syed was convicted. Listeners hear directly from Syed, his family, friends, and jurors who worked the case. Though it remains unclear if Koenig believes him to be innocent, Syed will face an appeals court in Maryland at the beginning of next year.
Syed was in the process of working on an appeals case before the podcast made its way to millions of listeners. (Many aspects of his initial court case are questionable, including sources who weren't interviewed and the reliance on phone records from 1999.) But, the notoriety of his case from Koenig's story may have certainly catapulted his appeals request to the forefront.
This information may or may not be included in the next episode of Serial on Thursday. What is clear, however, is that many Serial listeners will be watching for the appeal court's decision come January. (TIME)