Is being innocent until proven guilty still something one can hope for when charged with a crime? Or will they be convicted simply because there is evidence that said they could have done it, or a story told by someone who could just be covering their own tracks?
In Adnan Syed’s case, it was guilty until proven innocent; Adnan Syed was a young man in High School when he was convicted in February, 2000 of kidnapping and strangling Hae Min Lee, his ex-girlfriend. But many still believe that he is innocent; he was convicted on theories, the whereabouts of a cell phone, and the story of one man.
One friend, Rabia Chaudry, decided that she was not going to give up on Syed so she enlisted Sarah Koenig in hopes that she could shine some light on what really happened on January 13, 1999. After Koenig researched the case, she decided to help the families get closure, to do this, she started the podcast Serial.
Now, to get to the point of this blog; I have just finished listening to the season 1 finale of the podcast Serial, and have done some research to find new evidence that was not in the podcast. Throughout the podcast I believed that Adnan Syed was innocent, this is partly due to the fact that they didn’t show much evidence to contradict this. When I did my own research on the subject, I was exposed to many different opinions; some who thought Syed was guilty and could not be swayed, some who were the opposite and thought he was innocent, but there were also some in the middle saying that Jay did it, or Jay helped Adnan do it.
The biggest piece of evidence that had me re-evaluating Syed’s innocence was when two former students came forward after Adnan was granted an appeal after Asia McClain Chapman came forward stating that she remembered conversing with Adnan in the Woodlawn Library during frame that Lee was strangled. These students wrote a letter stating that they remember McClain telling them that she believed in Adnan’s innocence so much, that she was going to make up a story to try and free him.
The reason these made me go back and re-evaluate my opinion so harshly is that there are 2 students claiming that they heard McClain was going to interfere in the trial; as well as the fact the their stories match. This is a very strong piece of evidence contradicting Adnan’s alibi; but I still believe he is innocent because there is no way to prove that this claim is not a lie, but I am skeptical.
I then read that after McClain wrote Syed, his memory seemed to clear up; but with this came a multitude of stories, some that were completely different than others. Everyone was surprised by this new witness (McClain) coming forward, even Adnan.
All of this evidence put together makes a solid claim; and it’s just that, a claim. There is no video to prove it, no audio, not even a picture. It’s just 2 students who wrote letters claiming to have been a part of a conversation with McClain where she told them that she was going to lie to free Syed because she believed that he was innocent.
So, as you have probably guessed already, my mind has not been changed by all of this new evidence; until I can see, listen, or read that there is definite evidence that Syed kidnapped and strangled Hae Min Lee, I will continue to say he is “innocent until proven guilty.”
Works Cited
“Asia McClain Chapman -.” Asia McClain Chapman, 24 Aug. 2016, http://www.asiamcclain.com/.
Delaney, Cassie. “New Documents Likely to Prove Adnan Syed Is Guilty.” Her.ie, Her.ie, 23 Aug. 2016, http://www.her.ie/news/new-documents-could-prove-adnan-syed-is-guilty-308268.
K, Sa. “Serial.” Serial, serialpodcast.org.
“Murder of Hae Min Lee.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 July 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Hae_Min_Lee.
“Rabia Chaudry.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 July 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabia_Chaudry.
“Sarah Koenig.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 July 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Koenig.
Sam's Blog 