The Case Against Adnan Syed

[Urgh2019]

Anyone else watching. I was a big Serial fan and shocked that he is still in prison.

I'm baffled that anyone could state they believe him guilty - the case absolutely stinks and Jay's evidence has no credibility at all. The phone evidence was a big part of the case and would not now be allowed. At best there's room for reasonable doubt and at worst it's a tragic fit-up. As they've refused him a retrial I don't know when he'll ever get out.

Yes that fax cover sheet saying phone tower evidence not to be used as evidence ! When that surfaced I was so sure that ground of appeal would succeed.

I actually think he’s innocent. Eek!

I only know for sure that I am not sure of his guilt (in the evidence from the podcast and the other pod by the lawyer dissecting the evidence and appeal stages). Not at all sure but don’t even need that much doubt to find him not guilty.

Breaks your heart to think of two such young people with such potential having their lives destroyed - both Hae and Adnan are victims.

I don't believe her boyfriend killed her either - it's another trap to fall in to just assume that, if Adan is innocent that Don must be guilty. From the details of the crime it's far more likely to have been a violent sex-offender.

I seem to remember part of Rabia's Undisclosed podcast mentioned that Hae had a habit of going to a particular cashpoint at a particular time of day and that a known sex offender lived opposite.

What's so depressing though is that it isn't about whether he's innocent or not, whether the evidence was dodgy or not, or whether he deserves a retrial or not, it's about political interests and the local police covering their arses. That's why the state prosecutor's office fought so hard and came up with with technical nonsense issues to throw the appeal out.

Still need to watch the final episode, but I think he's still guilty. I had moments of doubt, and the cellphone records/testimony is really dodgy, but I think, ultimately, he's responsible for her death. Rabia has her blinders on about him, as do most of Adnan's family and community.

Some of the people left behind in this story have had a really rough time of it---I was particularly shocked at the appearance of Jen Pusateri, who looked well beyond her 30-something in years.

If you have only watched the documentary you really should listen to the podcast before you decide about guilt/innocence. The documentary was very biased - Rabia was executive producer. They left lots out including the note saying "I will kill", the Nisha call, once you know about these they all put a different slant on things.

It also jumped all over the place and didn't make much sense. For me, there are two things that do not add up and I can't get past them. First - Adnan has no alibi, after all this time, all this scrutiny, he was facing life in prison for murder and he still couldn't remember what he was doing that day. Not that he couldn't prove it - he literally couldn't remember. Second - his lack of anger towards Jay. If he's innocent and Jay has made it all up why wouldn't you hate and despise that person? Why wouldn't you rip Jay's alibi to shreds and throw him under the bus? In the podcast he seemed to almost shy away from discussing anything about Jay - maybe because they are so entwined he's afraid he'll give something away. I also loved seeing the people from the podcast in real life. I loved seeing Jenn - I don't know why but I believe every word she says I feel like she has no agenda.

The part when Jay's ex phones him up to ask him what happened - but we can't hear the conversation, then she tells us "yeah he said the police told him to say it" I was howling with laughter - pathetic!

As usual it's all about poor Adnan and the real victim - Hae, is just a footnote.

Also - it is possible to not have a fair trial but still be guilty.

dayswitha - indeed but you would not be found guilty.

So a guilty person would not be found guilty after a fair trial - how does that work then?

Heron is saying not all guilty people have a fair trial. And above everything I think this is key actually. Everyone deserves a fair trial.

Guilt or innocence is neither here nor there if there isn’t a fair trial. Burden is on the prosecution to prove the case. I’m sure I’ve secured acquittals where the defendant may have been guilty. Our system is about fair proof not truth. If that makes sense !

If you‘ve listened to Serial you might also want to listen to the Adnan series on Undisclosed podcast. Yes it is put together by those who think he is innocent but it does have a lot of in-depth information which I found the documentary lacked, it jumped about too much.

For my money, I think the police should have looked closer at both Don and Mr S. Hae was planning to meet Don after schoool, his Mum/step-mum supplied alibi/s and the police couldn’t track him down until 1.30am the next morning.

Mr S lived within sight of the school and had previous arrests for indecent exposure and suchlike, plus people have said that when the initial police went to see where he found Hae‘s body, they struggled to see her, raising the question of how he managed to find her.

So I have doubts about both of them but no clear picture.

I think Adnan rejecting the plea deal speaks to his innocence.

But it’s a high-profile case with many opinions. I was pleased the end of the documentary came back to Hae, with what Kristy said.

I absolutely think he's guilty, and now I really want to listen to the podcast again before watching this! So I can get all the names in my mind before seeing what they look like.
And yes a lot of what happened is legally dubious but I still think he did it.

Seeing as it seems he was convicted basically on the cell tower information it seems to me the prosecution did not prove their case.