...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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...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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...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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...paid to the role of his religion on the events of the crime? The prosecution in the case of Hae Lee’s murder argued on multiple occasions that the alleged murderer, Adnan Syed’s community would have no issue with helping him escape the country if he was granted bail. Honor killings are known as a murder that is fulfilled due to the “disgrace” to one’s religion or family. Some say that Adnan murdered Hae as an act of honor. It is said on multiple occasions that Adnan was religious along side his family. United States v. Doe (1990) states that racially biased prosecutorial arguments are unconstitutional, however it seems that the State of Maryland did not give Adnan a truly fair trial. Hae Lee’s body was found in February 1999, in the same month that Adnan was arrested for her murder. The press and Lee family put stress on Law enforcement, which resulted in an early arrest. When Adnan was placed on trial for the killing of Hae, September 11, 2001 had not occurred yet. Before September 11, 2001 America was not nearly as prejudice towards the United States Muslim...
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...It is safe to 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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...Adnan’s innocence is shown through the State of Maryland’s unrealistic timeline of the day Hae was murdered. Woodlawn High School gets out at 2:15 and according to Jay’s story, Adnan called Jay from the Best Buy parking lot at 2:36, asking Jay to pick him up. That leaves 21 minutes in between the last school bell and the phone call and it is physically impossible for everything to happen in that short amount of time. In that time period, Adnan would have had to pick up Hae, drive to Best Buy, strangle her to death and then haul her into the truck of the car. This may seem reasonable to do in 21 minutes, but there are many factors that need to be considered. Starting right after school, there were some limitations to the travel that put a halt...
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...Serial was also the first podcast to win a Peabody award. In the description of Serial on www.peabodyawards.com it's stated that "Serial rocketed podcasting into the cultural mainstream and inspired countless follow-up pieces and many a heated argument amongst friends about what actually happened on January 13, 1999." Clearly Serial conjured strong reactions in millions of people throughout the world. By doing so, it helped solidify podcasts as a viable form of artistic entertainment and may have opened the door for more podcasts in the future to gain more attention and...
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...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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