Wrongful Conviction of a Teenager? Let me Explain!

Recently, I wrote about the podcast, Serial, and that will be today’s topic as well. If you haven’t seen my previous post, you can check it out here. As you all know, I was blown away by the podcast and was instantly intrigued. Ever since, I have been looking into the situation and have uncovered some details which may prove Adnan’s innocence.

It has been 20 years since a now 39 year old Adnan Syed was arrested. His entire life and his families lives have been turned upside down because of this situation. Adnan has always maintained his innocence and I believe him. Personally, I think the cops did not do their due diligence with this case. Now, let’s dig into the details of this case.

Firstly, Asian McClain was never interviewed as a witness. This immediately tipped me off because which attorney does not want to protect their client. Asia McClain wrote 2 letters to Adnan stating that she remembered him in the library and so did her boyfriend and his friend. On top of this, 15 some odd years later, Asia still remembered nearly everything about that day despite how malleable our memory is. Asia remembered how it was the first snowstorm of the year, that she talked with Adnan, knew when he arrived and left, and gave 2 other possible witnesses. If Asia had all of this information, why wasn’t she interviewed!? Many people, including me, think that Adnan’s attorney, Cristina Gutierrez, was paid off (Koenig). This can be evidenced by the fact that she was disbarred in 2011 for draining a trust fund containing client funds (Geiger). Having an incompetent lawyer can certainly impact the integrity of your case and I think it definitely impacted the judge’s ruling on Adnan Syed.

Now to move onto some more scientific evidence. DNA samples were taken from Hae’s car and her body. Surprisingly, neither found traces of Adnan’s DNA (Evans). At this time, the police had 2 more suspects which they were investigating, Alonzo Sellers and Don Clinedinst. Alonzo Sellers was the man who found Hae’s body and Don was Hae’s boyfriend at the time. For whatever reason, the police did not take DNA samples from either man (Evans). This is flat-out absurd because when you look at it from this perspective, it seems as though the police were also paid off. If either man’s DNA had been matched to her body, there would have been a new, credible lead. Instead, the only leads they settled for were an anonymous call and subpar interview.

Thirdly, Jay Wilds should not be the only evidence in this case. I say this because Jay has proven to be unreliable; his story changes every single time he tells it. Recently, he told his story to The Intercept and a key part of the story changed. He mentioned that the burial took place around midnight, but cell tower records state that Adnan was around the burial site at 7 pm (Chaudry). Not to mention that these cell tower records were given by the opposition and were allegedly never cross-examined by Adnan’s attorney, Cristina Gutierrez (Geiger). If Jay admitted this, a retrial should be performed because a key piece of evidence has been put forward. Jay should also be removed as a credible witness because clearly, he cannot keep his facts straight. This alone should be enough to exonerate Adnan.

Lastly, I have one piece of evidence which is from an HBO show titled “The Case Against Adnan Syed“. At one point in the show, Nikisha Horton, and ex-girlfriend of Jay gets Jay on the phone. During this conversation, Jay reveals that “the cops pressured him into fingering Adnan in exchange for leniency regarding a marijuana-possession bust.” (Schager). Now, this is concerning, the cops have weakened the integrity of the investigation, the whole case is a mismatch of who said what, and someone’s life is getting destroyed. How does this happen in a successful country with a solid judicial system? This whole case should be looked back upon one day and every flaw in it should be fixed for future trials. Anyways, my question is, if everything Jay had said previously was used in court with no evidence to support it, why is this being taken with a grain of salt? Should this not warrant an investigation against the cops and Jay?? It is absurd to me that a retrial was not given despite this evidence.

Overall, this whole investigation is a mess and Adnan’s case for innocence has never been stronger. There is not much factual evidence against Adnan and although it is one word against another, it should be examined again with no bias. The evidence should be studied carefully and thoroughly this time and no stone should be left unturned. To conclude, Hae Min Lee’s murder back on January 13, 1999, should not be pinned on a charismatic teenager who happened to be an ex-boyfriend, it should be investigated and the real killer should be condemned.

Works Cited

Brockington, Ariana. “Why Adnan Syed’s Supporters Obsess Over These 2 Letters.” What Did Both Asia McClain Letters To Adnan Syed Say?, 18 Mar. 2019, http://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/2019/03/227295/read-asia-mcclain-full-letters-adnan-syed-case-serial. 

Evans, Sophie Jane, and Sophie Jane Evans. “Explosive New Evidence Suggests Serial’s Adnan Syed Could Be Innocent.” The Sun, The Sun, 1 Apr. 2019, http://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8763243/serial-adnan-syed-innocent-real-suspects-boyfriend/. 

Geiger, Dorian. “What Happened To Adnan Syed’s First Attorney, Cristina Gutierrez?” Oxygen Official Site, 15 Mar. 2019, http://www.oxygen.com/martinis-murder/crime-time/what-happened-adnan-syed-attorney-cristina-gutierrez-ineffective-counsel. 

HBO. YouTube, YouTube, 20 Feb. 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQaTa5eTxnk. 

Schager, Nick. “’The Case Against Adnan Syed’ Shows Us What ‘Serial’ Could Not.” The Daily Beast, The Daily Beast Company, 11 Mar. 2019, http://www.thedailybeast.com/hbos-the-case-against-adnan-syed-shows-us-what-serial-could-not. 

“Season One.” Serial, serialpodcast.org/season-one.