BALTIMORE — The state is arguing that a man whose murder conviction was the focus of the popular “Serial” podcast shouldn’t be released on bail while awaiting retrial for the slaying of his high school girlfriend.

Media outlets report that the Maryland Attorney General’s office filed a motion that said Adnan Syed remains a convicted murderer with his new trial ruling on hold in appellate courts. The state argues the defense should have sought bail at an earlier procedure.

Adnan Syed, who was convicted in a 2000 murder, has been the focus of the popular "Serial" podcast. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Syed’s attorneys argue he poses “no danger to the community.”

Syed was convicted in 2000 of strangling 17-year-old Hae Min Lee a year earlier and burying her in a shallow grave in a park in northwest Baltimore.

He was sentenced to life in prison.

The podcast “Serial” told the story of his case in 2014. A judge granted a new trial in June. The podcast attracted millions of listeners and shattered records for the number of times a podcast has been streamed and downloaded. The loyal army of listeners often acted as armchair detectives, uncovering new evidence and raising new questions about the case.

During a post-conviction hearing in February, Syed’s attorneys argued he deserved a retrial on the grounds that his original attorney, Cristina Gutierrez, did not contact Asia McClain Chapman, an alibi witness who said she saw Syed at the Woodlawn library about the same time prosecutors say Lee was murdered.

Additionally, Syed’s current attorneys argued cell tower data linking Syed’s phone to the burial site on the day of Lee’s murder was misleading because it was presented to jurors without a cover sheet warning that incoming call data was unreliable.

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