Hello again, and welcome to my blog! In today’s post I will be further discussing Adnan Syed’s trial which was brought to me via the podcast series, “Serial”. I will further analyze whether Adnan is guilty or innocent using evidence from the podcast. I hope you enjoy!
Click any blue links for more information!
Background on the Serial Podcast
Retrieved from: https://www.slashfilm.com/serial-season-2-bowe-bergdahl/
The “Serial” podcast series, as briefly explained in my last blog post, tells the story of seventeen year old but named Adnan Syed, who dated, dumped, and presumably murdered his girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. Her body was found in a park located in Baltimore Country, Maryland a month after the murder. Adnan was convicted and arrested for the murder within a year, and was sentenced to life in prison. The case had no physical evidence whatsoever, and relied solely on the stories of witness’, including Adnan’s close friend Jay Wilds. Jay testified that he helped Adnan bury Hae’s body in the forest, but throughout the prosecution Adnan mainteined his evidence, stating that he had nothing to do with the murder of his ex-girlfriend.
Adnan’s story is told by narrator Sarah Koenig, who goes beyond the for-seen evidence and digs deeper into his case. She has been in close contact with Adnan, calling him almost everyday, asking him questions, chatting, and getting to know him as a person. It becomes evident that Adnan does not seem capable of such a thing, but is that the truth?
Retrieved from: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/09/serial-podcast-season-3-review
Adnan Syed’s Wrongful Conviction
Adnan seems like just another typical teenager who goes to high school, has friends, plays sports, studies, and spends time with his family. Upon listening to the podcast, others thought the same way. His friends, and coaches were all interviewed for the podcast and each one of them had something positive to say about him, despite the speculations around his name. They told the narrator, Sarah, that he took part in may extracurriculars in school including track and field, which he is presumably quite good at. They also said he is a very community driven person, who leads prayers at his local Muslim church. Being Muslim, Adnan is said not to be allowed to drink, smoke or have intercourse. Personally, I think Adnan is a very well rounded boy, who was raised in a proper manner, and had a bright future ahead of him. To think a person of such potential and opportunity is capable of such a thing is very hard to believe. Overall it seems like Adnan is a very high achieving individual in and out of school, but the question still remains, did he kill Hae Min Lee?
Read more about the Muslim religion and how Adnan most likely would have been raised: click here
My Thoughts…
From what I have learned about Adnan, just in the first episode, I will start by stating that I truly believe he is innocent and was wrongfully accused, prosecuted, and sentenced for a crime he did not commit. He does not, by any means, deserve the time he served in jail. If nothing other than the evidence stated in the podcast was presented to the judge responsible for dictating the outcome of Adnan’s case, I think the side trying to putt him in jail had nothing to stand on. Within the case existed no physical evidence that directly tied Adnan to the murder. The only evidence the prosecutors had was phone calls and conversations they had with people who knew or were related to Adnan. Their was no solid evidence such as a video, DNA sample, or article of clothing that put Adnan at the time and place of the murder. The prosecution based their entire case on a weak, almost meaningless, method of swaying the judge, speculation. The accounts of those interrogated in Adnan’s case should not be the determining factor of Adnan’s guilt, as who really knows if they are true, especially since they were questioned many days after the murder. Most people forget what they had for dinner, even if it was only the day after. In Art Kohn’s article, Brain Science: The Forgetting Curve–the Dirty Secret of Corporate Training, he states that, “within one hour people will have forgotten an average of 50 percent of the information [presented to them in the classroom]” (Kohn 1). Given this information it is safe to say that nobody’s story of the events on Hae’s murder date should be taken with certainty.
Read more about just how forgetful the human brain is: click me
Retrieved from: https://www.thecut.com/2016/05/how-to-make-yourself-forget-a-bad-memory.html
Adnan and Hae’s Relationship Creates a Motive?
One of the major reasons Adnan took the spotlight as the prime suspect was because of his relationship with Hae. They broke up months prior to the murder. The prosecutors depicted their breakup as messy, and full of anger and sadness. This depiction allowed the court to think Adnan had a motive. Finding a suspects motive is a common tactic used by the prosecution when they have no solid evidence to back up their claims. Though this argument held its ground in court, not one person states he was acting weird after the break up. He and Hae, by all accounts, were still friends. He was interested in other girls, he worked at his job, and was headed to college. In fact, two weeks after his arrest, he got an orientation package from the University of Maryland. If the true nature of Hae and Adnan’s relations was made apparent in court, Adnan would no longer be said to have a motive to kill her, and the outcome of the case would change dramatically. The fact that this false depiction of their relationship stood in court leads me to believe he did not kill Hae, because the truth, freeing Adnan of being classified as a motivated killer, remained hidden. Suggesting he was wrongfully blamed, or purposely setup.
The Missing Alibi
Looking deeper into what placed Adnan in jail, I found that it was because he did not have an alibi during the time of Hae’s murder. When Adnan could not provide any proof, or recollection of what he was doing during the murder to investigators. Speculation kicked in amongst the prosecution as it did for the entirety of the case, leading them to believe he had to have been at the scene of the crime. This is a very unfair and inadmissible piece of evidence because, as stated earlier, the human memory is not very reliable in recalling insignificant events, especially being days later. Investigators could have asked any student on the campus what they were doing during the murder. More than likely all of their answers will be the same as Adnan’s, not knowing for sure, but having vague ideas. Though he could not produce an alibi, a student name Asia McClain vividly remembers seeing him walk into the Woodlawn Public library shortly after 2:15pm, putting in the library during the time of murder.
Retrieved from: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/adnan-syed-conviction-reinstated-maryland-court_n_5c82bc75e4b0ed0a00133bfa
Somehow, this story was overlooked by the defence and was never brought up in court. Asia later came forward as a mother living in Washington in April of 2010. She called Kevin Urick, the prosecutor in Adnan’s case. Jeff Truesdell, author of Time Magazine’s article, Alibi Witness for Serial Subject Adnan Syed Gives Evidence in Court, states that in an interview she “thought the prosecutor would be the good guy who could give [her] unbiased information about the case” (Truesdell 1). The article also state she said, “he said, ‘he killed that girl,’ and he didn’t have any doubt” (Truesdell 1). The author also adds that in their conversation he told her, “there’s a snowball’s [chance] in hell that Brown would win Syed’s release” (Truesdell 1). Justin Brown, referred to as “Brown” in the article, is Adnan’s defence attorney. The fact that the prosecutor was acting biased towards the case, thinking Adnan is meant to be in jail, illustrates Adnan could have easily be falsely sentenced, since it seems like the prosecutors mind in unable of change and consideration.
Retrieved from: https://www.cecildaily.com/kevin-urick/image_1a2989e9-e67e-5423-90d8-888b49f46d64.html
Overall…
Upon researching on my own, listening to the “Serial” podcast, and watching videos about Adnan’s case, I quickly formed opinions, assumptions, and speculations of my own. Each of which all pointed to one conclusion, Adnan is an innocent man. He lives a beautiful life, full of religion, family, love and friends. He plays many sports, works hard in school, and follows his religion. Personally, I would never expect someone who lives such an opportunistic and enjoyable life to commit such a heinous crime. He has too much to loose, why would he throw his entire life away just because he was mad at his girlfriend? Through playing sports and practicing religion, you would expect Adnan to learn how to manage his emotions. He does not portray someone that is potential of murder. Not only that, but the only piece of evidence giving Adnan a motive to kill her was completely skewed. It was said they broke up terribly, leaving both parties angry. This, in fact, is not the truth. Every single account of their relationship in the “Serial” podcast suggested that they broke up cleanly and nobody was left in pain, meaning that Adnan had no true motive to kill Hae. Furthermore, he was charged with murder for having a normal brain, one that forgets easy. The fact that Adnan could not remember his exact whereabouts during the time of murder, that happened many days before asked, the court assumed he was guilty. Adnan should not be in jail, there is a clear bias in the prosecution, there is no physical or concrete evidence proving Adnan’s guilt, there was missing evidence in favour of defending Adnan that would have dramatically changed the outcome, all the evidence against Adnan was either false or speculated. Even his friend Jay Wilds tells investigators that he witnessed the entire murder happen, yet he has no proof to back his claim. It is very hard to know for sure whether he did it or not, but placing someone in jail based on speculation and storytelling is wrong. I guess just blaming the prime suspect is easier than carrying out a longer trial.
Retrieved from: https://allthatsinteresting.com/adnan-syed-murder-of-hae-min-lee
Works Cited
Kohn, Art. “Brain Science: The Forgetting Curve–the Dirty Secret of Corporate Training.” Learning Solutions Magazine, 13 Mar. 2014, https://learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1379/brain-science-the-forgetting-curvethe-dirty-secret-of-corporate-training.
Truesdell, Jeff. “Serial: Alibi Witness for Adnan Syed Gives Evidence in Court.” Time, Time, 4 Feb. 2016, https://time.com/4207550/alibi-witness-serial-adnan-syed-court/.
Spencer's Blog 