Currently in the United States there are 2 million incarcerated people. America has a wrongful conviction rate of 1 percent which translates to about 20,000 innocent people being punished for crimes they didn’t do. On January 13, 1999, Adnan Syed was convicted of the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in Baltimore, Maryland. Nobody is completely positive what happened that day or who killed Hae. Most of the suspected events that occurred that day come from the testimony of Jay Wilds, one of Adnan’s friends, who claims to be a witness of the crime and says Adnan is the murderer. During Adnan’s trial, there were many flaws that could’ve contributed to an unfair trial such as a bias jury, an attorney who made mistakes, and the failure to investigate other murder …show more content…
Serial episode 10 explains details from Adnan’s trials including Christina Gutierrez’s unclear strategies and representation. One example is Cristina failed to bring in Asia Mcclain to testify an alibi for Adnan (Serial Episode 10). If she had, Adnan’s case would’ve had at least one strong witness, and a somewhat strong alibi to contribute to Adnan’s defense. Cristina also failed to attempt and even discuss a plea deal with the defendants which could’ve lead to a shortened incarceration time for Adnan (Vulture). There are rumors that Adnan asked her twice to seek a plea deal but the possibility was never brought up in court (Vulture). If Christina hadn’t have made these two mistakes there would’ve been a difference in the end result of Adnan’s trial. Adnan should be given a second trial with a different lawyer who will give Asia McClain a chance to witness and bring a clear strategic approach to the court. Cristina Gutierrez may have been a decent lawyer but she failed to bring a structured claim, witnesses, and a decent representation for Adnan’s case to
“Once they learned there that was never tested for DNA, including a liquor bottle containing human skin cells and rope found at the crime scene, they visited Adnan Syed in the prison. This quote proves that Christina did not look into DNA evidence. Adnan should be granted post conviction because his past attorney didn’t test potential evidence that could support Syed. Ronald Lee Moore, who was released from prison 10 days before Lee vanished in January 1999, could have been responsible for her death. This quote shows that there could have been other suspects to blame besides Mr. S, who was a strong suspect.
Even with Jay’s testimony, I don't believe that Adnan Syed should have been convicted of murder on such little evidence. The state’s motive for Adnan is based on Muslim stereotypes and no real evidence. They say that when Hae broke up with Adnan she besmirched his honor, forcing him to have to kill her to regain it. Adnan has shown many times that he doesn’t follow strict Muslim rules by dating multiple girls, partying, and even smoking marijuana.
On January 13, 1999, Hae Min Lee was reported missing and later found dead in Leakin park in Baltimore . Adnan Syed, Hae Min Lee’s ex boyfriend was convicted of the murder then sentenced to life on the charge of 1st degree murder. Jay Wilds was the witness for the trial that stated that Adnan had killed Hae, and both Adnan and himself had buried the body. Adnan’s lawyer for this trial was Christina Gutierrez who failed to use the only alibi for Adnan, Asia McClain, and go through DNA evidence on Hae. I believe Adnan Syed should be granted a second trial, because of the competence of his attorney.
Furthermore, as a recent case development, it appears that co-defendant Chelsea Canterbury is scheduled to enter a guilty plea on November 30, and will testify against Defendants Mr. Williams and Mr. Davis. Just as with the other alleged co-conspirators or victims who are expected to testify at trial, Ms. Canterbury's credibility will be a key issue at trial. Therefore, to provide effective representation, counsel for the remaining defendants must now thoroughly investigate Ms. Canterbury before trial.
How is she supposed to properly prepare for the trial and actually care about the case if all she cares about is money. Fundamentally, she shouldn’t have been so worried about the money if she couldn’t back up what she was saying she was going to do. This, sadly, wasn’t the only time this happened, however. Around the time of Syed’s trial there was another trial going on for a boy who was accused of killing his younger brother named Zach Witman. The boys’ parents, Ron and Sue, hired Gutierrez to defend their son.
Adnan Syed is innocent. He did not murder Hae Min Lee. The reasons Adnan was wrongly convicted is: Adnan has consistently maintained innocence, Jay’s story is in consistent, the call tracking isn’t reliable, the Asia affidavit proves otherwise, post mortem results of Hae’s body debunked the states story, and people who knew Adnan and Hae said the break up wasn’t messy. In summary, Adnan is innocent. Adnan had been in captivity for almost 15 years.
Murder is a deplorable crime that leaves behind a trail of devastation and grief for the victim's loved ones. There are many motivations behind such a heinous act, making it hard to determine the criminal. The case of Adnan Syed, who was sentenced to killing his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, focuses on the many possible reasons why a person would commit such a hateful act. Despite the concrete evidence that was never shown, a number of reasons could show what could have led Adnan to commit such a horrendous crime. One reason could be that Adnan was driven to kill Hae after she broke up with Adnan.
no he didn't, there is so much more evidence that Adnan did not receive a fair trial than that he did, he are some of the key ones. The jury really listens to jay's story and what if he was lying, he really didn't have that much proof that he was telling the truth. Also, ‘’On Jan. 13, 1999, according to Asia, she was in the Woodlawn Public Library while waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up. Shortly after 2:15 p.m., Syed walked in
The podcast serial tells the true story of Adnan Syed a man who currently sits in jail in maryland.when Adnan was 17 years old he was accused and found guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend hae min lee.serial is told by sarah koenig who investigated hae’s murder. After hearing the podcast i have come to the conclusion that if I would have found him guilty. The reasons why i believe this is because he was jealous that hae’s broke up with him,and a phone calls proves he was in leakin park the day of her death and many witnesses that adnan was going to kill hae. I think he is guilty because he had a motivation to kill hae and that was the break up after Hae broke up with Adnan, he couldn’t accept it.
Because of this podcast, it has shed some light on this case, as many believe Adnan is innocent. Therefore, I believe that Adnan is innocent because Jay’s story seems fishy, Adnan would have to do this murder flawlessly and
This was just one example of how unfair these trials could
The art of storytelling is one full of powerful devices. In Sarah Koenig’s Serial, our world is crammed full of narrative acrobatics and linguistic precariousness, courtesy of a podcast so grounded in language, the audience is ultimately lead to one of the most prevalent themes: ambiguity. Koenig consistently provides her listeners with such damning evidence throughout the podcast, and then almost always provides a stream of doubt: “Maybe Adnan misspoke… maybe he’s lying… maybe he’s hiding something…”. Serial becomes a courtroom, Sarah Koenig becomes the defense and prosecution, and the podcast’s audience becomes the new jury to the Adnan Syed case. However, unlike Adnan’s real jury, who left the courtroom with enough conviction to sentence
If our judicial system still believes that someone is innocent until proven guilty, then Adnan has to be innocent, because they did not prove him
Of course, many people think Adnan Syed is guilty of murdering Hae by contradicting himself, by saying, “I am in here for my own mistakes.” He might have been on the edge of confessing his guilt until Sarah caught this and asked what he meant, and quickly recovers from his mistake. Adnan also slips his tongue by saying that he wants people to only look at the evidence, and not his personality. If I were convicted of a crime I would certainly like to have my personality be looked at, if I were innocent. So they could see what good I have done.
The biggest issue within the Criminal Justice system is the large number of wrongful convictions, innocent people sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit. People are put in prison for years, even executed for false convictions. This affects not only those put in prison but friends and family of the accused. Wrongful convictions aren’t solely a tragedy for those directly involved either. It weakens the faith the public has for the justice system as well as poses safety issues; when innocent people are put away, the real criminals are still out there.