Was it a heartless murder, Or was it a crime of passion? This question has yet to be answered for Adnan Syed, who was convicted for the murder of Hae Lee in Baltimore, 1999. This interesting case puzzled people all across the United States as they were not sure what to think of Adnan. Serial, a podcast that explains the facts and the theories of the entire case with firsthand accounts from the witnesses and the convicted murderer, tries to break down each aspect of the trial as well as forming its own opinion on Adnan. As a result of the unreliable evidence, such as the cellphone data, the unreliable DNA evidence, and the character of Adnan as seen through the eyes of other people, all go to show that Adnan Syed is innocent and his exoneration …show more content…
Jay Wilds, who was an asset to the burial of Hae Lee, claims that Adnan had bragged about choking Hae Lee and helped bury her. After the investigation looked at Adnan’s cell phone data, it shows that a call was made around the time of when Jay Wilds claims that they were burying the body. In the Recent Developments paper, written by Justin Ellis, he writes about how Adnan had actually failed to provide a crucial piece of evidence before the trial started. This evidence was a stab at the claim that Adnan was in the park at the time of the burial. It contained a letter from an alibi witness known as Asia McClain. This resource is especially useful for me because it sheds some light on why Adnan’s evidence did not make it to court and how it potentially could have impacted the trial in its entirety. This Asia McClain girl said that Adnan was at the library at the time of the burial. The fact that he had an alibi witness, but was not able to use it pretty much shows that he had defense, but as a result of an incompetent lawyer, was unable to submit this …show more content…
The Serial Podcast had written that Adnan was an “honor student, as well as an EMT, and a football player and track star!” Adnan’s character stays strong throughout the whole Serial podcast and interviews within his community. Adnan’s character is seen as a nice guy who plays sports, gets good grades, and doesn't cause trouble. In the documentary about Hae Lee and Adnan, it is shown in the diary entries that Hae had written about Adnan while they were together. Also, it is shown that that Hae was absolutely obsessed with Adnan. She describes him as the “sweetest and kindest person ever.” Some people may argue that as a result of the teenage breakup, that probably Adnan murdered Hae Lee out of spite. This is very unlikely. (Berg) We see again in the Serial podcast that Adnan had told Sarah Koenig that he still cared about Hae, even though they broke up. One instance that shows this is when Hae had some issue with her car, and Adnan had come over to help her. (Koenig) Adnan’s character seems to be like every other teenage boy at the time. He did not have sociopathic tendencies or any sort of psychotic tendencies either. Throughout the Serial podcast, Adnan is open and kind while Sarah asks about this traumatic event. He accepts what happened to him, even though he knows that he is innocent and has maintained his statement of innocence throughout the entire ordeal. (Koenig) As we learn about Adnan’s character, we can infer that Adnan is
He will tell you he went shopping around 12 pm with Jay Wilds to retrieve a gift for his then girlfriend Stephanie, Jay later dropped Adnan back off but kept both his car and cell phone. Next, I will call Asia McClain, a student who was at the Woodlawn library and recalled seeing and talking to Adnan at the time the State attest the murder of Hae Min Lee occurred. Asia will tell you she recalled seeing Adnan the afternoon of January 13, 1999, during the time of the victims murder. She recalls having a conversation with Adnan about his breakup with Ms.Lee. If we ask her why she is able to recall these details she will tell you that it has to do with the fact that it snowed a couple days after she had seen and talked to Adnan.
From witnesses, call records and Jay’s interview and testimony, there is enough evidence to prove that Adnan is guilty. After Adnan and Hae’s breakup they still continued to be friends. When Adnan asks for a ride as heard from their friends, Hae declines his request. Supporting evidence 2: As Jay was interview he claimed that Adnan had killed Hae. Since Jay was a witness to this crime, he had told Jennifer Pusateri about it.
Therefore, Adnan is innocent because he wouldn’t have a reason to kill her if they didn’t
Adnan didn't have the personality of someone who would do this. Time and time again, people have said he doesn’t seem to be obsessed with Hae, or that he is a good kid, etc. When the number of people saying Adnan would never do this is so high, and Jay Wild's statements are the only ones saying he would, it becomes suspicious in my opinion. While I believe Adnan's personality is one of the main proofs of his innocence, there is still a way that he would have committed this crime. First, many of the quotes are from people who used to be close to him.
Adnan and the victim, Hae, started dating in 1998. The two were in love but had to
One piece of evidence that proves that Adnan is innocent and that did not kill Hae Lee is Jay's inconsistencies in his stories and interviews when talking to the police. When Jay is being interviewed by the police he tells in chronological order what happened and what he remembers from that night when Hae Lee was murdered. Evertime Jay told his story a small detail or location would change and not match up with the original story. In Episode 4: Inconsistencies Jay is being interviewed by the police, they had asked “why would you lie about the location? ”. Jay responded with, “Because I’m
During the case, the previous motives and Jay was the only substantial “evidence” against Adnan. Jay tells the police and investigators that he had helped bury Hae’s body (Also discussed in Serial S1 E4). In the article Adnan Syed is Innocent and I Can Prove It: Lawyer Rabia Chaudry it states” Wilds testified that after he and Syed buried Lee, Syed drove Lee's car from the park to a nearby street and dumped it. Yet no soil from Leakin Park was ever found in or on Lee's car in tests conducted by the Baltimore Police crime lab, Chaudry tells PEOPLE.”
“I just sometimes wish they could look into my brain and see how I really felt about her. Whatever the motivation is to kill someone, I had absolutely-- it didn't exist in me,” Adnan said (Koenig, “The Alibi”). He explains in a way that will make people pity or sympathize him. He wants people to look past the bigger picture and believe he never could’ve done this act by being strategic with his word choice. Adnan believes since the case faded out “No one ever has been able to provide any shred of evidence that I had anything but friendship toward her,” (Koenig, “The Alibi”).
On the contrary, some people believe in what Adnan claimed, “I get information from Aisha and other kids from school”, but this is an excuse because he wouldn't want to get involved with the murder because he knows Lee was already dead and he might be persecuted if he did
The first reason why i believe Adnan is innocent is because
These two reasons are all that a person should need to believe that Adnan didn't have enough motive, or time, to kill Hae. Jays testimony sets the timeline and proves there is enough evidence, which is not presented by Adnan’s lawyer, to say Adnan is innocent by a straying story. The time period where Hae could've been killed does not match Adnan’s timeline. Jay, who is a convicted felon, was the only witness and is trusted to give a good story. Cristina Gutierrez, who was Adnan’s lawyer, had medical issues that distracted her from using useful information in his case.
Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, opposing counsel, my name is Piper Travis, representing the defendant in this action. My client Adnan Syed was wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit. He was imprisoned for 15 years for supposedly murdering his former girlfriend, eighteen-year-old Hae Min Lee even though there was no proper evidence to convict him. One of his friends at the time, Jay, claims that Adnan killed Hae, but the inconsistencies in his story should make him more of a prime suspect in this case rather than Adnan. He states that Syed killed Lee and later showed him the body inside a Best Buy parking lot, and they later buried the body at Leakin Park.
Relationships, lies, murder, conviction. These are all aspects that come into play when talking about the January 13th, 1999 murder of high school student Hae Min Lee. Adnan Syed, Hae’s 17-year-old ex-boyfriend was convicted of her murder in 2000. The problem with this is that the only evidence the state had to convict Adnan was the stories told by others, specifically someone named Jay who was with Adnan for some of the day Hae went missing and had possession of Adnan’s car and cell phone. He claims Adnan made him come pick him up after the murder was committed and assist him in burying Hae’s body.
Pride and Jealousy are very powerful things! Some people will go to the farthest limits to preserve their own ego and selfish desires. The Serial Podcast by Sarah Koenig is about the very complex murder of Hae Min Lee on January 13th, 1999. Many different people are brought into the Hae Lee case but the one that sticks out the most is Adnan Syed. On the day of January 13th, 1999 Hae Min Lee was strangled to death by Adnan Syed with the assistance of Jay Wilds.