Will Adnan Syed remain a free man? Will he be cleared of murder once and for all? Will his conviction stand from two decades ago?

Attorneys and podcast listeners are bracing for answers as the clock winds down for the Maryland Supreme Court to hand down its long-awaited opinion in the case.

The justices are to decide whether the lower court acted properly almost two years ago when a Baltimore judge threw out Syed’s conviction and released him from prison. That decision was overturned on appeal, then the matter was sent to Maryland’s top court. Now, that court is left to resolve the matter.

Former Chief Justice Mary Ellen Barbera, who retired in 2021, had established a precedent that Maryland’s top court would issue decisions no later than the Aug. 31 after which an appeal was heard. The court heard arguments in Syed’s case in October. That leaves just days for the court to decide under her precedent.

As the clock winds down, attorneys have questioned whether the court could break from this routine under current Chief Justice Matthew Fader. When asked, a spokesman for the Maryland courts said cases must be resolved by the end of the term in which they were argued, and that the current term ends Saturday, Aug. 31.

Therefore, the court is expected to hand down its opinion in Syed’s case no later than Saturday.

The subject of the hit podcast “Serial,” Syed was found guilty in Baltimore Circuit Court in 2000 of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment in the killing of Hae Min Lee and sentenced to life in prison — plus 30 years. Her body was found on Feb. 9, 1999, in Leakin Park in Baltimore. She was 18.

From the start, Syed has maintained his innocence. At the time of Lee’s death, he was 17.

“Serial” became a cultural sensation when it was released in 2014, igniting a true-crime phenomenon.

The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office in 2022 filed a motion to throw out Syed’s conviction, reporting that a nearly one-year investigation had revealed that prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence and unearthed information about two possible alternative suspects.

Young Lee, Hae Min Lee’s brother, had asked the judge to delay the case for one week so he could travel in from California and attend the hearing in person. Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn denied that request but allowed him to give a statement over Zoom. Phinn granted the state’s attorney’s motion and ordered Syed to immediately be released from prison.

Steve Kelly, an attorney who previously represented Young Lee, moved to appeal the decision and asked the courts to put the case on hold.

Meanwhile, the state’s attorney at the time, Marilyn Mosby, dropped the charges. She pointed to the results of new DNA testing on several items that excluded Syed as a contributor.

In a 2-1 decision, the Appellate Court of Maryland in 2023 ruled that Young Lee’s rights to notice and attendance were violated and moved to reinstate Syed’s conviction. The mid-level appeals court ordered a new, legally compliant and transparent hearing.

Three months later, the Maryland Supreme Court agreed to take up the case.

Reporter Dylan Segelbaum contributed to this story.