Throughout episode 12 of the podcast Serial, Sarah Koenig tries her best to represent both sides of the chilling narrative she is faced with. Hae Min Lee’s strangled corpse was found in a Baltimore park a month after her disappearance. Law enforcement and State Prosecution were convinced that her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed was the culprit. There is evidence that could convince someone that Syed was guilty or innocent. Both Sarah and her coworker are presented with exactly the same evidence and both have worked with the case. Sarah confesses that she leans towards the idea that Adnan being innocent (52:20) while her coworker shows her suspicion towards him while explaining how all of his explanations are a little “too convenient” (39:24). I personally agree with Sarah: There is not enough evidence to be certain that Adnan is guilty.
Often when Koenig is talking with witnesses that have interacted with Adnan, they state how much of a friendly character with non-murdering tendencies he is. Saying something along the lines of “The guy I knew, there’s no way he could have done this” (52:06). Now in the first episode of Serial we hear from Jay how the murder was coldly premeditated. Almost as though Syed is a serial killer, comfortable with committing homicide.
One can assume that if Syed was allegedly showing the experience of a serial killer, then he other characteristics of a serial killer would be showing as well. The first on the list of signs is antisocial tendencies (Frese, 2014). All the people involved in the case shows this. He had a girlfriend (Serial, Episode 1), he talked with Asia at the library (Serial, Episode 1), he was friends with Jay (13:05), he flirted with Nisha (22:43). Would someone who is antisocial have any interest in doing any of these things? It is just not in Adnan’s nature to commit the murder.
It seems that the prosecution was pursuing Syed as though it was a witch hunt, rather than a legal trial. They draw attention that Adnan did things such as drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. “1 out of 10 teens” smoke marijuana in the United States (CBS Interactive, 2012). Are the police going to start suspecting every single one of them of crimes? The prosecutor even berates Dan for being truthful on the stand and not portraying Adnan as “creepy”(9:21). By the way, convincing a witness to lie in court is a crime (England, n.d.). The amount of straws that the prosecution is grasping at shows how little confidence the prosecution has in their own evidence.
The largest piece of incriminating evidence against Syed is Jay’s recounting of January 13th, the day that Hae disappeared. He claims that Syed made Jay come with him and help him bury the body. The inconsistencies in his story show that Jay is not a reliable witness. For example Jay said to his co-worker Josh that the police are coming (13:05) but at trial he says that he didn’t know that “the cops are coming” (14:29). As well Josh points out that it’s strange for Jay, someone who he isn’t that close to, to tell him about how he buried a body (17:18). How can we trust the word of someone who’s been shown to be erratic and untrustworthy.
Before this episode one could make the argument “Well who else could it be? Adnan was the only person with even the slightest motive to hurt Hae”. Now there is another possible suspect in the case. A student in the Innocence Project discovered another murder with the same modus operandi as Hae’s (44:13). Ronald Lee Moore was released twelve days before Hae’s disappearance and had a history of violence against women (45:02). Now that there is someone in the picture who has the motive and personality to commit the crime, it’s worth considering that someone with neither, didn’t.
Overall I think this is enough evidence that Syed should receive an appeal. One where the defense has his best interests in mind, unlike the first trial (Serial, Episode 1). As well with a prosecution that uses actual evidence, instead of placing parts of his life under a microscope like a tabloid writer. This will give us a chance to answer “Is Adnan really guilty?”
Works Cited
Frese, Susan. “- Crime and Forensic Blog.” Crime Museum. N.p., 23 June 2014. Web. July 2017.
“Report: Frequent marijuana smoking up 80 percent among teens.” CBS News. CBS Interactive, 27 Aug. 2012. Web. July 2017.
England, Deborah C. “Suborning Perjury.” Criminal Defense Lawyer . N.p., n.d. Web. July 2017.
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