The hit podcast Serial has covered and continues to do updates, on the case and status of Adnan Syed. The man, then a boy, alleged of killing his ex-girlfriend who was 17 at the time. Doubt has been cast upon the verdict of Syed’s guilty and if he actually committed the killing of Hae Min Lee.
To resume with my opinion of Adnan’s guilt or innocent case, I am going to take a look over all the provided facts and state whether I believe he is innocent or guilty.
The first evidence to look at is the autopsy report and time of events taking place. She had left school around 2:15 to pick her cousins at their school around 3:30 to which she did arrive at that day. This is when her family realized something went wrong. According to the autopsy reports and crime scene pictures the forensic pathologists and medical examiner came to the conclusion that her body was moved from the original killing location due to the fact her body was slightly twisted and on her right side and frontal lividity was shown on her body from pictures. This is explaining that all the blood pools to body parts closest to the ground while in frontal lividity. Meaning her body was placed in frontal position for some time before the relocation and change of body position as well.
The killer had to both have the opportunity and means to intercept Hae by 3.30pm and to kill her, leave her body in a flat position somewhere private for eight to 10 hours, then move her later to Leakin Park.
Adnan could not have done these things due to the fact he attended track practice and was in the library at school with Asia (alibi).
This leads to the next piece of evidence is Asia McClain the possible alibi. Asia tried to keep in contact with Adnan once he was arrested by writing notes of how things went that day as she clearly remembers it. She has no reason to lie unlike Jay as he was an unreliable, untrustworthy and deals with drugs while lying to police. According to Asia she had met Adnan in the library during the assumed time Hae was killed, she apparently remembers that day well. She was not utilized in court as people are presuming his lawyer botched the case in order for her to receive more money.
The final piece of evidence is Adnan’s friend’s description on his character. He was a normal teenager participating in common teen activities and had no disturbing behavior in school. He was well respected by his peers as well as well-mannered. He had moved on with the breakup like a normal person and had no hate or other harsh feelings against Hae as Asia mentions in this video.
My personal opinion is that he is innocent because there is no actual evidence against him, there is nothing connecting him to the crime besides one poor witness who has changed his story about 12 times. There was no forensic evidence, eye witness testimony or video that can connect him to the crime. There is no information on how Hae was killed, where she was killed and what time she was killed. All they had was a witness which police forced to make false statements repeatedly.
There is a possibility that Hae’s current boyfriend at the time which was not Adnan could have killed her, or at least it’s a good starting point as they never tested him. No forensic samples such as his hair, DNA, fingerprints, nothing to test against evidence. I believe this was a case where Adnan was wrongfully convicted due to the lack of evidence.
Works Cited
Websites (Hyperlinks)
“Season Three.” Serial. 11 July 2019 <https://serialpodcast.org/>.
“Murder of Hae Min Lee.” Wikipedia. 07 July 2019. Wikimedia Foundation. 11 July 2019 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Hae_Min_Lee>.
“Lividity.” “Lividity.” World of Forensic Science. 2019. Encyclopedia.com. 11 July 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/law/crime-and-law-enforcement/lividity>.
“Maps, Documents, etc.” Serial. 11 July 2019 <https://serialpodcast.org/season-one/maps>.
Images
“‘The Case Against Adnan Syed’ comes to HBO.” Baltimore magazine. 25 Jan. 2019. 11 July 2019 <https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/2018/5/16/the-case-against-adnan-syed-comes-to-hbo>.
“Asia’s letters.” Serial. 11 July 2019 <https://serialpodcast.org/posts/2014/10/asias-letters>.
Video and GIF
News, ABC. “Asia McClain Speaks Out About ‘Serial’s’ Adnan Syed.” YouTube. 10 Feb. 2016. YouTube. 11 July 2019 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=eqwUqzZ2lpE>.
Giphy. “Shocked Golden State Warriors GIF – Find & Share on GIPHY.” GIPHY. 05 May 2019. GIPHY. 11 July 2019 <https://giphy.com/gifs/shocked-guilty-gsw-fq75KMTNhOAYMVF3kU>.
Namita Patel 