...of the evidence found during the re-investigation of the murder of Hae Min Lee. The state’s stance on the case was against Adnan Syed, who was accused of killing Hae, his ex-girlfriend. They presented him as a possessive, jealous ex-boyfriend who could not stand that Hae dated someone else shortly after their breakup. However, after discovering conflicting information within Jay’s stories, recent connections to another serial killer, and the previous defence lawyer’s negligence, I have more reasons to believe that Adnan is innocent. The Evidence and its Implications The state’s main evidence against Adnan was Jay’s testimony and stories from two previous interrogations. However, upon...
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...occurred. Later on, when asked about it, the man said that he never saw a body and didn’t know anybody named Adnan—though he was friends with Jay. The call to the police also happened months after Adnan was charged, meaning that it was very likely that they would have known about Hae’s murder (Koenig, “The Case Against Adnan Syed”). This, coupled with the fact that the man never reported the incident himself and later claimed it wasn’t true, makes it clear that it was either an attempt by someone to get their five minutes of fame by connecting themselves to the nearby murder or the events heavily changed as they passed from ear to ear. As the man was friends with Jay, it is also...
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...Adnan Syed was convicted for girling his ex-girlfriend, Hae, in Baltimore approximately sixteen years ago. Adnan has been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt due to the credibility of Jay’s testimony, suspicious behaviour, physical evidence and witnesses. The state began by explaining how Adnan had to put ‘everything on the line for his relationship with Hae.’ His family, his relationships at the mosque, and his religion are all examples of parts of his life that he must sacrifice for Hae. Over time, this slowly built up resentment towards Hae in the form of possession. Therefore, when Hae finally left him, he was left with nothing but outrage fueling his desire to kill her. In fact, Hae reveals, through her diary, that she felt guilty for being a sacrifice to his religion. Apparently, Adnan would sometimes jokingly say ‘I’m going to hell because of you’ or ‘You’re the devil.’ In addition, when Adnan was senior king for his homecoming dance; his family found him and directly...
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...My verdict for Adnan’s trial is innocent and I'll tell you why. Adnan was charged for killing his high school girlfriend and was sentenced to 17 years in prison by “strangling” his ex-girlfriend to death because Adnan was not happy that Hae Min Lee was getting a new boyfriend. They need to find the murder of Hae Min Lee and if they can find evidence of Hae Min Lee death and if they feel like its a strong case, and evidence then Adnan would be guilty. They have been investigating this case for a while and still looking toward a trial for the last month or so. Of course, there have to be 4 pieces of evidence to put Adnan behind bars or see if he is innocent. We got the cellphone evidence which has two calls used to place Syed in Leakin Park at the exact same time when Jay Wilds said they were burying Lee's body at the cell...
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...Defend or Convict? Adnan Syed is Innocent By: Kirsten Persad If you listen to podcasts, then you have most likely heard of the hit series Serial. Focusing around the trial of Adnan Syed, a Baltimore teenager convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Sarah Koenig carefully guides her listeners though events leading up to the conviction of Adnan Syed, serving a life sentence since 1999. Serial is This American Life’s newest and most enthralling podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig, featuring one episode per week with more insight into the story of Adnan Syed. The show offers a deep look into Adnan’s trial and the criminal justice system around him. Koenig’s superb storytelling, investigative reporting and interviews with the people involved in the trial, delivers granular details that call into question the court’s decision. Leaving listeners baffled as they tried to decide whether or not he actually did it. As the true-life mystery podcast Serial captivated millions, an appeal attempting to throw out the life sentence of the convicted murderer, at the story's center is winding its way through court. As the twelfth and final episode came to an end you can imagine the thousands left with unanswered questions, confusion as well as the astonishment and disbelief of his conviction. Syed, now 34 years old is still serving a life sentence while maintaining his innocence and having no involvement in the murder. 1. Weak Motive Although a lack of motive is a relatively small...
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...sight and disappeared and nowhere to be found. Her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed is then eventually arrested by the state of Maryland in February of 2000 for her murder. Her body was found in a park in a shallow grave on February 1999. It was senior prom at Woodlawn High School where both Hae and Adnan went to school. Adnan was a junior and Hae was a senior when they dated. The murder case of Hae is full of many holes and facts that don’t match up. The main eye witness in Adnan trial was Jay Wilds, who testifies against Adnan telling the police that Adnan had told him he was going to kill Hae. Jay claims that he allowed Adnan to have access to...
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...sympathetic as he may seem, Adnan Syed is guilty for the murder of Asia McClain. The media wants to believe that Syed is innocent, and the Podcast members want you to believe it too. I’am here to tell you otherwise. Now Sarah Koenig may treat this like a standard wrongful conviction case, but by looking at the evidence, it surely isn’t so. The main reasons why Adnan is guilty is because of his Behavior around Hae, Adnan’s lack of emotion toward Jay if being wrongly accused, and the final reason being the phone calls at Leakin Park from Adnan’s phone, which is where the Body of Hae was found during the evening. Being protective is a good thing, especially when caring for a loved one, but...
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...human tendency that we are taught to suppress due to prejudiced outcomes that occur from action. However, not everyone is taught to remove, or at least restrain, these negative connotations, which can often lead to a clear bias before a presented decision is made. Looking at the case and trial of Adnan Syed, it is clear to see how strongly courtroom bias has influenced the outcome of this trial. The tenth episode of the podcast focuses on the trial of Hae Min Lee’s death, but a large portion of it discusses Adnan's convictions. At the beginning of the episode, it discusses the standard order of law known as “removal for cause”...
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...specific murder that happened on January 13, 1999. That was the day Hae Min Lee went missing and got murderer. On January 13, 1999 Hae Min Lee went missing and on February 9, 1999 her body was found was found in a big park in baltimore by a maintenance man. The investigators said that the cause of the death was manual strangulation, meaning someone did it with their hands. 6 weeks after Hae Min Lee went missing her boyfriend Adnan Syed was arrested for for her murder, and has been in jail ever since. After investigating it is clear that Adnan is innocent because he has an alibi and he was seen in the library while Hae Lee was being murdered, Hae Lee was found in Leakin Park and the park is very far from the school, Adnan syed also loved Hae Lee very much and he didn’t get mad when they broke up so nothing triggered him to kill her. First of all, i think Adnan Syed might be innocent because he’s has an alibi and was seen at the library while Hae Lee was being murdered. Adnan was speaking to Asia McClain at the library at the time of Hae’s murder and...
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...say that Adnan Syed was treated unfairly on his first trial and deserves a second chance. After analyzing all of the evidence brought to light by Koenig, it seems that Serial shifted from a narrative perspective to an argumentative perspective. Koenig struck listeners with evidence from both sides of the story while continuing to keep the reader guessing. She also likes to shift her view point when Adnan looks guilty, or when he looks innocent. Depending on how the investigation is going, Koenig always seems to find questions and holes in the story that just don’t add up, leading to the conclusion that Adnan deserves a new trial. To start off, Koenig definitely argued many different factors which lead the audience to develop...
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...February 28, 1999 Adnan Syed was arrested at age 17 for the murder of Hae Min Lee. Adnan and Hae were in a relationship, it was an on and off again relationship. Around the time of the murder Adnan and Hae were no longer together and Hae was dating someone else. Adnan had allegedly strangled Hae with his own hands in the best buy parking lot, and buried Hae’s body in Leakin park with the help of Jay. Jay is Adnan’s friend. Then they had hid Hae’s vehicle. Adnan deserves a new trial because of the alibi witness that had was never brought to testify, Adnan’s lawyer who had not done her case properly, and very weak evidence against Adnan. As soon as Adnan’s peer had heard the news of his arrest they were in shock. One of the evidences was Adnan’s...
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...manual strangulation. Her 17-year-old ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was convicted of first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. He has since been serving his sentence for more than thirty years. The case against Adnan was largely based on the story of one witness, his friend Jay who the police interviewed after talking to Jenn (another one of Adnan’s friends). Jay testified that he had helped Adnan to bury Hae's body. But Adnan has always maintained he had nothing to do with her death. The Evidence: As there was no physical evidence linking Adnan to Hae’s murder, the state built their case out of three main pieces of evidence: Jay’s testimony, Adnan’s cell phone records, and fact that Adnan had poor memory of what he was doing on the day of Hae’s disappearance and therefore had no alibi. Exhibit 1:...
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...Adnan is innocent because there is no hard evidence that says he actually killed Hae Min Lee. First, Jay Wilds stated that Adnan Syed showed him Hae's body in the trunk of her car and that he helped Adnan bury her body in Leakin Park on the date of January 13, 1999. But the autopsy report says Hae was killed she was laying on a flat surface for at least 10 to 12 hours which makes the scenery of Jay and Adan very impossible.Jay testifies that after he and Adnan buried Hae, Adnan drove Hae's car from the park to a nearby street and dumped it. Yet no soil from Leaking Park was ever found in or on Hae's car in tests conducted by the Baltimore Police crime lab. According to Rabia, the police collected swabs from Hae Min Lee's body including vaginal...
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...Every person has an opinion on a very difficult topic that has been investigated for a while. Serial has been going over Adnan being guilty or innocent of killing his ex girlfriend Hae. Every episode has been lead to him being guilty or the state making the wrong claims. Sarah Koenig has broken down the case and gone over different aspects on why he could be innocent and why he could be guilty. Adnan despite the discrepancies is guilty of murdering Hae. Here is some counter arguments to some of the evidence against Adnan being guilty. For instance most of the evidence can be used either way. Like the phone records, they are credible and they mark out the route that Jae says, but then again Jae could have had Adnan’s phone. Jae told police he helped Adnan dump the body. Jae could have dumped the body for all we know they both could. The evidence is all circumstantial to say the least so this doesn’t...
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...as to avoid variability and erroneousness. There are however cases in which the human makes mistakes. As members of the community with the ability to explore these potential mistakes, we can bring about proper consequence. Serial is an example of ethical reporting based on a key theory of consequence reporting: justice. The entire podcast is centered around seeking the truth of what exactly happened on January 13, 1999. Sarah Koenig, the host and producer of the Serial podcast, dedicated an endless amount of time to investigating the supposed...
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