After listening to the Serial podcast, you can’t help but form your own opinion on the mystery. The biggest question this podcast brings forward is, is Adnan Syed guilty? Did he actually kill Hae Min Lee, or is there more to the story?
After listening to the podcast, and doing some other research, I am personally leaning towards believing that Adnan is innocent. The case against him that put him in prison is very thin. There doesn’t really seem to be enough to convict someone, and yet Adnan was convicted. It was based almost entirely on just one witness, Adnan’s “friend” Jay. Jay and Adnan didn’t really know each other, Adnan was friends with Jay’s girlfriend, and Jay went to the police after Hae’s murder and told them Adnan did it.
Jay’s Statement
Jay’s statement is really the only one that was used against Adnan. A big problem with this that he changes his story several times when talking to police. He changed several important things in his story, it changed three times from his first police interview, second interview, and statement during the trial. He changed things like Adnan’s motive for killing Hae, whether Adnan planned and talked about killing Hae before the day she was actually killed, place where she was killed, place where he was shown the body, and even his own involvement changes. He changes other many things too, which makes this all even more confusing. In one version of the story, only Adnan digs Hae’s grave in Leakin park, and in another version Jay is actually there helping him dig the grave. That’s a huge thing to lie about. Whether it’s little things, or huge, major things, Jay’s story changes drastically several times. I think that they should not have made Jay’s statement so incredibly important to the case because of all the inconsistencies. But, because he was the only one able to give a real story about the day it happened so he was the only witness that could be used, and he was on the side of the police, so they were able to use him. Adnan was never even asked to give his statement on the stand in court, so the jury never even heard his side of the story from him personally.
Call Records
Another big part of the case that was used against Adnan was a timeline of cell records, Which don’t entirely match Jay’s story. But there were a few calls that matched some of the more key events, so it was enough to help support his statement and get Adnan convicted.
Asia McClain
Adnan Syed says he doesn’t remember much of the day the Hae Lee was killed, because for him it was a fairly normal day, one that didn’t really have that much significance. Other than getting a phone call from a police officer about Hae Lee’s disappearance, which he claims the only thing he thought of this what that she had run away or something and that her parents would be mad at her. He says he never thought he would be hearing that she was actually killed. This memory gap is a problem for Adnan, because it means he isn’t able to produce an alibi for himself. But after Adnan was sent to prison, a girl named Asia McClain wrote him letters saying that she remembered seeing, and even speaking to him at the library, which is where Adnan said he would’ve most likely gone on the day that Hae was killed. The letters were given to Adnan’s lawyer, but they were never used in the case, even though it could have provided Adnan with a useful alibi.
These are some of the reasons i think Adnan Syed is innocent. On top of all these strange, confusing factors of the case, Adnan and many of his friends say that he was very respecting of Hae, and that he was a very good kid and would never want to hurt her. These could just be lies Adnan is telling to try and get himself out of prison, but many of the people who knew him closely fully believe that he could not have killed Hae Lee. He also still seems very baffled by his situation, even after all this time. He still sticks by his “I didn’t do it” statement, even though he can’t really back it up. I don’t know who really killed Hae Min Lee, or if the truth will ever really be known, but in my personal opinion, Adnan Syed seems innocent.
Works Cited
Dwyer, Colin. “’Serial’ Subject Adnan Syed Deserves A New Trial, Appeals Court Rules.” NPR, NPR, 29 Mar. 2018, http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/29/598001941/serial-
Lazzaro, Sage. “The 9 Most Surprising Revelations From Asia McClain’s New ‘Serial’ Memoir.” Observer, Observer, 7 June 2016, observer.com/2016/06/the-9-most-surprising-revelations-from-asia-mcclains-new-serial-memoir/.
subject-adnan-syed-deserves-a-new-trial-appeals-court-rules.“Serial: Why Jay’s Testimony Is Not Credible Evidence of Adnan’s Guilt.” The View From LL2, 31 Dec. 2014, viewfromll2.com/2014/11/26/serial-why-jays-testimony-is-not-credible-evidence-of-adnans-guilt/.
Grade 12 University English 