This morning, Asia McClain filed an affidavit with Maryland's Court of Special Appeals, revealing startling new allegations that could impact the case against Adnan Syed. Serial listeners know McClain from the first episode, "The Alibi," when she told reporter Sarah Koenig that she had been with Syed during the exact time police claim Hae Min Lee was murdered. She wrote Syed letters after his arrest, referencing their meeting in the library that afternoon, and later wrote an affidavit describing it in detail. Despite the vital testimony she may have provided, McClain was never called to court during the trial in 1999 — a fact that has long baffled both Serial fans and Syed's friends and family.
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Not only does McClain's new affidavit reaffirm her story from 1999, it alleges that prosecutor Kevin Urick deliberately misled her and lied under oath to prevent her testimony. It wasn't until she heard the podcast that she got the full story. The show featured recordings from the Syed's first appeal proceedings, wherein Urick claims McClain told him she'd only told the library story under pressure from his family, and that she later recanted it. Both these claims, says McClain, are absolutely false.
In fact, she claims it was Urick who persuaded her not to press the issue since the case was cut and dry. "I was under the impression that there was a tremendous amount of evidence that convicted Adnan," McClain told The Blaze in an interview today. "I really didn’t realize how weak the state’s case was."
Hearing the heap of conflicting evidence reported on Serial, McClain realized just how crucial a role she could have played — and might still play should the state of Maryland grant Syed another appeal. In any event, McClain says, "I came to understand my importance to the case. I realized I needed to step forward and make my story known to the court system."
It
may be too little too late, since last week the Maryland Attorney
General's office recommended that the court deny Syed's petition for another appeal.
But, clearly, his current defense team feels they have enough evidence
to keep trying, particularly now that Asia McClain has joined the fight.
"I know that across offices and homes in America, and beyond, people have been discussing Adnan's guilt or innocence," McClain told The Baltimore Sun. "I can only tell you what it is I know. Whether this information means that Adnan is innocent, or deserves a new trial, is a decision for others to make."