Convicted murderer at center of wildly popular 'Serial' could get a new chance at freedom

Adnan Syed - the convicted murderer and subject of the wildly popular true-crime podcast "Serial" - is returning to court Wednesday for a post-conviction hearing that could lead to a new trial, reports NBC. 

Syed is serving a life sentence in prison for the 1999 murder of 18-year-old Hae Min Lee, his former girlfriend and high school classmate, reports NPR.  

The motion for a new trial centers on two pieces of evidence that could change the fate of Syed, who was convicted at the age of 19 and is now 35.

First, he has a potential new alibi from a witness named Asia McClain, who said in an affidavit that she was in the library with Syed at the time of the murder.

Second, his lawyers want cell tower data used to place him in the general location of Lee's murder reexamined because they believe it is inaccurate and misleading, according to the Associated Press. 

Syed's defense attorney, C. Justin Brown, is hopeful about the new evidence they plan to submit.

"We're confident that after we have entered all the evidence that the judge is going to carefully consider it and it's going to win Adnan Syed a new trial," Brown told NPR. 

Murder trials - and possible wrongful convictions - have captured the public's imagination in recent weeks. Like "Serial," Netflix's documentary series "Making a Murderer" has fueled speculation about its subject. That subject is Steven Avery, who was convicted of murdering Teresa Halbach in 2007 after he already served 18 years in prison for a rape he was later proven not to have committed.  

Syed's hearing will take place from Wednesday through Friday in the Baltimore City Circuit Court. Here's how the trial is unfolding.: