Adnan Syed of ‘Serial’ Podcast Appears in Baltimore Court for a New Trial Hearing

Adnan Syed enters Courthouse East in Baltimore prior to a hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 in Baltimore. The hearing, scheduled to last three days before Baltimore Circuit Judge Martin Welch, is meant to determine whether Syed's conviction will be overturned and case retried. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/The Baltimore Sun via AP) WASHINGTON EXAMINER OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

BALTIMORE—A defense lawyer’s failure to call an alibi witness was a key point of contention as a convicted murderer returned to court Wednesday to argue he deserves a new trial in a case that gained fresh notoriety through the podcast “Serial.”

A three-day hearing began in Baltimore for 35-year-old Adnan Syed, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999.

Syed’s attorney Justin Brown told Judge Martin Welch that previous defense attorney Cristina Gutierrez made a mistake in failing to call Asia McClain, who claimed to have seen Syed at a library during the time of the killing. But prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah with the Maryland attorney general’s office said there were reasons to think McClain might not be reliable.

Vignarajah argued that Gutierrez was a dedicated and effective attorney, and that Syed was convicted not because his lawyer was incompetent, “but because he did it.” Vignarajah added that Gutierrez made a decision not to pursue McClain as a witness.

In this Dec. 10, 2014 file photo, prison artwork created by Adnan Syed sits near family photos in the home of his mother, Shamim Syed, in Baltimore. Adnan Syed, a convicted killer at the center of the first season of the podcast "Serial," is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 as his attorneys argue for a new trial. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)