Who is Adnan Syed?
Adnan Syed is a Muslim-American man from Baltimore, Maryland who was born on May 21, 1980. One of the three children of “conservative parents” Shamim and Syed Rahman. Crowned prince of his junior prom, a player of the varsity football team, and a member of the track team, Syed was well known and considered one of the popular kids. Described as the “golden boy of the community“, it all came as a great shock when on February 28, 1999 Adnan Syed was charged with the kidnapping and murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee.
The conviction
With no physical evidence, how can you tie a teenage boy to a murder scene? The prosecution relied solely on a statement by Jay Wilds, Syed’s friend. Wilds admitted to helping bury Lee’s body. Syed’s absence of an alibi made him an easy target. Claiming that Syed was angry at Lee for breaking up with him, prosecutors were able to successfully convict Syed in February 2000 on a charge of first-degree murder. Syed has to date served almost 20 years of a 30 year sentence. However, in 2016 a retrial was requested after it was discovered that Syed’s defense attorney Christina Gutierrez did not act to the best of her abilities, failing to contact a supposed alibi witness. Gutierrez was disbarred not long after his conviction, for purposely tanking cases in order to make herself more money.The appeal for a retrial came with hopes that a new alibi witness Asia McClain would prove his innocence. McClain originally claimed she saw the suspect at the local library at the time the crime was committed. She went on to send letters to Syed confirming this, and Syed provided his new defense with those letters. McClain would later disappear, after claiming that she was pressured into writing the letters. Ultimately, the retrial was denied after the court determined that while Syed’s original defense failed to include this alibi witness, it would not have changed the conviction as McClain’s story contradicted multiple aspects of Syed’s story.
The Serial Podcast
My knowledge of the case started off with the podcast Serial, narrated by Sarah Koenig. Listening to the information rather than reading it proves difficult for me as it tends to influence my thoughts, thus why I am sharing my opinion through this blog post. Hearing Koenig speak about Syed certainly influenced my thoughts on the case as she was clearly biased. Koenig’s informal tone made it clear to spot out her opinion, she thought Syed was innocent. Koenig interviewed many people, however all of these people were in favour of Syed, proving her bias.
Innocent or guilty?
Personally, I do not think that Adnan Syed murdered Hae Min Lee. While I admit that there certainly is no alibi placing Syed anywhere other than the crime scene, there is also no evidence placing Syed at the crime scene. As previously stated, the podcast Serial originally influenced my belief that Syed was innocent however further independent research only confirmed my belief. Jay Wilds’ witness statement is indeed all that there is to tie Syed to the crime, but seeing as Syed cannot remember where he was at the time of the crime I understand why this was used to convict him. But my research shows that Wilds’ statements are inconsistent and furthermore, “ recent analysis of Wilds’ police interviews suggest he had been heavily coached by the Baltimore police“. Syed’s clean past would make one think that he would never commit a crime, nevertheless a murder.
His original defense attorney was disbarred after his case, and that should have been the first clue that his trial was negatively influenced. I would like to believe that if an attorney is disbarred, all of their cases would be looked into. His attorney failed to provide a possible alibi witness and an expert witness to analyze the supposed phone location records. I think that Syed was targeted due to his race and beliefs. One of the most common things I came across during my research is that many people suspected Syed based on the fact that he lied to his family about his relation to Lee and went against his religion multiple times. He had romantic relationships, drank alcohol, and smoked, all the while his family believed that he was their little angel. While I do certainly believe Syed is innocent, I understand that there are many aspects to the case that some may perceive as proof that Syed committed the crime. To put it briefly, I believe that Syed is innocent because there is zero physical evidence tying him to the murder. I don’t believe that a teenage boy is capable of pulling off such a horrendous crime without leaving any evidence.
I have chosen to share my opinion on this matter through a blog post as I believe that reading something allows the audience to interpret words in their own way, as audio often demonstrates the intention of the speaker’s information and explanation through the way they speak.
Do you think Adnan Syed is guilty?
Elle's Tells 