During the last post, I
told you that Hae Min Lee was murdered and Adnan Syed was arrested for the
crime. It seemed like an open and shut case since his acquaintance, Jay Wilds,
claimed he helped Adnan bury her body. However, there are so many issues with this
case:
Issue #1: Since January 13 was a pretty
ordinary day, Adnan couldn’t remember every detail of his whereabouts;
however, a classmate by the name of Asia McClain clearly remembers seeing Adnan
in the library on that day, during the time the state claimed Hae was
killed. Adnan asked his attorney to contact Asia but she never did. Asia
just assumed she wasn’t needed and went on with her life, not realizing how
important this was until she heard about it again during the Serial podcast 15
years later. His track coach also remembered Adnan being at practice that
day since Adnan had been fasting for Ramadan and therefore, didn’t partake in
the usual workout.
Issue #2: Adnan’s attorney, Cristina Gutierrez, was
supposed to be top-notched; however, she did not do an adequate job at
investigating this crime. Not only did Gutierrez fail to contact Asia McClain,
she also didn’t hire any of the experts for which the family paid her. She was
disbarred (by consent) in 2001 due to financial improprieties. Her voluntary
disbarment was agreed upon because of her failing health due to multiple
sclerosis. She died in 2004.
Issue #3: Jay’s story – correction Jay’s stories,
plural. Each time Jay spoke with investigators, his story was
different. He actually gives at least seven versions of what happened:
four interviews with police, two at trial, and a news interview – all differing
from each other. There are, however, two points that Jay is consistent
about: Hae was in the trunk of her own car, and Adnan called him at
approximately 3:40 to come pick him up. Adnan says this call never took place
and he was on campus until after track practice ended. Jay also told
police he helped bury Hae’s body, but he received no
jail time because of his cooperation. In fact, one of the investigators
called in a personal favor from an attorney friend of his to represent Jay
pro-bono. (This is NOT common practice). I would also like to point out
that Jay and Adnan are acquaintances, not good friends. It’s hardly believable
that Adnan would have told Jay that he committed a murder.
Issue #4: The physical evidence doesn’t match Jay’s
story. The lividity evidence showed that Hae was lying face
down, prone, rather than curled up in the trunk of a small car. It
also showed that she was most likely deceased for 8 to 12 hours before she was
buried, not only 4 to 6 as Jay stated. In addition, Adnan’s DNA was not
on Hae’s body at all.
Jay led police to Hae’s vehicle parked in a grassy lot at an
apartment complex. Her vehicle was never processed at the scene and was instead
towed to headquarters for evidence collection. It was released to the family
soon after, in March. Defense investigators don’t believe her car was in the
lot for an extended period of time. Instead, they believe it was moved there
just prior to Jay’s interview. A woman living near that lot was interviewed for
the HBO documentary and stated there is no way it would have been there that
long without someone, including her, calling the police. Additionally, neither
Hae’s nor Adnan’s trunks appeared to have evidence of carrying a deceased body.
Issue #5: The tunnel vision by
investigators was actually misconduct since they appeared
to coach Jay on his stories to make sure they matched up with the state’s
theory. I realize this is a pretty bold accusation but unfortunately, it’s
true. Jay’s stories still don’t match the evidence. During the
Undisclosed podcast, Susan Simpson played audio from Jay’s taped interviews.
During those recordings, she pointed out there are very long pauses
between questions and answers. In addition, each time Jay erred
in a telling of the story, one of the investigators tapped on the
table to refresh his memory, as if maybe pointing out places on a
map. The following are only a few excerpts of the interviews taken
from Undisclosed Podcast Season 1, episode 3 to show the tapping
indications by investigators. You have to listen to this complete episode!
Coaching a “witness” is misconduct!
[33:22]
Detective MacGillivary: Okay, um, what
happens then?
Jay Wilds: We
leave there, um, I believe… Can you bear with me for a minute? I… [tap tap] …um,
okay, we left there… Ah, I take him, I took him back to school, and, and I
dropped him off. (Jay’s Second Interview, pg. 19.)
[35:48]
Jay Wilds: … and so I get in the car and I follow him, and we end
up at the 70 Park and Ride off of, uh… um, what is that? Uh… [tap tap] Sh…
Cooks Lane. (Jay’s First Interview, pg. 8.)
[41:34]
Detective MacGillivary: And both cars are
parked back in the parking spot?
Jay Wilds: No,
just his car. Her car had been moved to the… [sound of paper,
tap] …uh, spot around the corner prior to us digging the hole. (Jay’s
Second Interview, pg. 33.)
Susan
Simpson pointed out the investigators seemed to be getting annoyed at Jay since
he can’t remember what he is supposed to say. She also reminded us that they
supposedly have two vehicles so how are they having a conversation? It’s
ALMOST laughable.
[42:56]
Detective MacGillivary: What do you do
then?
Jay Wilds: Um…
hmm, we drive to Westview… um, I told him take me home. And on the way
going home we pass by Westview, and he says, “I better get rid of this
stuff.”
Detective MacGillivary: [sigh] You’ve got
two cars.
Jay Wilds: Oh,
I’m sorry. I apologize. Um, I’m missing… (Jay’s Second Interview, pg.
35.)
(Chaudry, Miller, &
Simpson, "Undisclosed Podcast", 2015)
Issue #6: The cell phone pings used as evidence against Adnan were
not reliable for incoming calls. At trial, a cell phone expert testified that
calls that pinged off towers in the Leakin Park area would confirm
the phone was in that vicinity. However, Susan Simpson stumbled across the fax
cover sheet that explicitly states, “Outgoing calls only are reliable for
location status. Any incoming calls will NOT be considered reliable information
for location.” Adnan’s attorney never brought this up at trial and the expert
that testified has since stated he would have testified differently had he
known about this fax cover sheet.
Issue #7 Alternative suspects. I’ve already mentioned Mr.
Sellers, who stumbled upon Hae’s body, although he was cleared as a suspect.
Jay has also been cleared and I’m not suggesting he did the crime, only that he
is lying about Adnan doing so. But what about Hae’s boyfriend, Don? I’m not
accusing him of murder since I have no proof and these kinds of accusations
ruin lives. I do feel as though the police didn’t follow up on him, as they
should have because he had an alibi. Do you know what his alibi was? He was
working at Lens Crafters and has a time sheet to prove it. The time sheet,
however, was created after the date in question AND the managers of the two
stores he worked at were his mother and his stepmother. Further, an employee
was interviewed for the HBO documentary and stated there would have been no
reason for Don to be called in the day in question since they were fully
staffed that day.
Adnan’s trials:
His first was declared a mistrial since jurors overheard the judge
call Cristina Gutierrez a liar. Jurors polled afterward stated he most likely
would have been acquitted. In 2000, the jury at his second trial found him
guilty and he was sentenced to life plus 30 years. His 2002-2003
appeals are all denied.
In 2010, Justin Brown was hired as his new
attorney who filed for post-conviction relief on the grounds of
ineffective assistance of counsel. After much back and forth, the petition for
post-conviction relief was denied by Judge Martin Welch.
Serial Podcast aired in 2014 and became a phenomenon
that no one expected. Suddenly, Adnan is known by everyone. In 2015, he was
granted an application for leave to appeal and his attorney opened a new
post-conviction relief petition. Adnan was granted a new hearing. Of
course, this opened new wounds for Hae Min Lee’s family but there
was finally hope a real killer could be apprehended. Asia McClain’s alibi
testimony as well as the unreliable cell phone ping
information was heard. Almost five long months later, Adnan Syed’s
conviction was overturned by Judge Welch, meaning he could get a new trial
if the state didn’t drop the charges.
However, Adnan remained incarcerated and the State of Maryland
appealed the ruling, which was not surprising to Adnan’s defense team. Another
seven months later, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld Welch’s ruling
and the state’s Court of Appeals agreed to hear the case. In November of 2018,
the Maryland Court of Special Appeals heard arguments from both sides. I
listened to these oral arguments and thought Adnan’s people delivered a
much more compelling case than the prosecution; however, March 8, 2019 –
literally two days before the HBO documentary about this case aired, the Court
voted 4-3, denying him a new trial.
Documentary spoiler alert: The state offered him
a plea deal and Adnan did not accept. They offered him to serve four MORE years
if he pleads guilty. He refused saying he couldn’t say he did something that he
didn’t do. So the next step appears to be a petition to the US Supreme Court.
Unfortunately, they only agree to hear approximately 2% of the 7000 to 8000
cases filed annually.
No matter what you believe about his guilt or innocence, Adnan did
not receive a fair trial. If the state is so confident in his guilt, why not
just try him again and prove it. Hae Min Lee and her family deserve more than
allowing her real killer to remain free.
Please visit the following links to learn more about this case:
All things related to this case: https://www.adnansyedwiki.com/
Undisclosed Podcast: https://undisclosed-podcast.com/episodes/season-1/
The HBO documentary: https://www.hbo.com/the-case-against-adnan-syed
Serial Podcast: https://serialpodcast.org/season-one
Susan Simpson’s extensive blog posts about this case: https://viewfromll2.com/category/serial-blogging-about-a-podcast/
Colin Miller’s extensive blog posts about this case. This is a
later post that has links to entries 1-20:
Please consider donating
to the Adnan Syed Trust to assist with legal fees.
Ordering merchandise
using this link also benefits Adnan's legal fund:
Chaudry, R., Miller, C.,
& Simpson, S. (2015, May 12). Undisclosed Podcast
[Audio blog post].
Retrieved from https://undisclosed-podcast.com/
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