Running head: RESEARCH PAPER

Research Paper: Serial

Lauren D. Martin
English 12 Honors
Glenelg High School

Adnan Syed: Guilty or Not?

According to the Bill of Rights, you are innocent until proven guilty. There must be
strong undoubtful evidence that you committed the crime you were accused of in order for you to

get convicted. The justice system failed in the case of Hae Min Lees murder. Adnan Syed is not
guilty of first degree murder and should not be spending his life plus 30 years in jail. Hae Min
Lee was reported missing on January 13, 1999 and a few weeks later her body was discovered in
a poorly dug grave in Leakin Park. Immediately, suspicious eyes turned towards Adnan Syed due
to their previous relationship and the fact that Hae was seeing a new guy. Assumptions were
quickly made and Adnan became the prime suspect. As people, specifically Jay, came out and
gave their testimonies, interviews were conducted, and evidence was gathered, the state built
their case. Adnan was represented by Cristina Gutierrez, a renowned defense attorney. The state
represented Adnan as a manipulative, lying, two-faced teenager that only cared about himself.
They claimed he killed Hae to protect his dignity and reputation at home and in his religious
community. This case is extremely controversial and drew the attention of journalist Sarah
Koenig. Koenig produced a podcast called Serial that dissected each element of the case and
picked at various unanswered questions. Based on the information given by the podcast, Adnan
Syed should not have been found guilty of first degree murder. The timelines on the police
reports do not add up, the testimony of their star witness, Jay, is not consistent, his representation
in court was not strong, not all witnesss testimony was taken into consideration, and there is an
extreme lack of physical evidence. The state turned a well respected, scholarly boy without any
criminal history into a selfish, cold blooded killer. Considering the extreme lack of evidence in
this case, there was an absence of justice and Adnan Syed is not guilty.
One of the main staples in the case against Adnan is the 21 minutes that he is
unaccounted for the day of her disappearance. The state claims that in those 21 minutes Adnan
was able to leave the school and drive through town to Best Buy and commit the murder.
According to the fifth Serial podcast(Koenig, 2014), Sarah and her team mimicked this trip and

were able to complete it in 22 minutes. Sarah stated that they drove extremely quick and moved
as fast as they could. Although technically this means that the window is possible, in order for it
to have occurred, there would have had to been perfect conditions and no problems in the plan, If
it truly only took 21 minutes, Hae did not put up a fight and he did not come across any
challenges, which is extremely unlikely. If it is not possible that the crime could have been
committed in this 21 minute window, then Adnan Syed did not commit the crime. There are
witnesses and others that can account for his whereabouts other than that short window of time,
so by proving the murder could not have occurred in that small amount of time, Adnans
innocence is proved. It is shocking that this was not further investigated by the police at the time
of the investigation.
Other than Adnans unknown whereabouts for part of the afternoon on January 13, the
only other main evidence in the case is the testimony of Jay Wildes. Jay Wildes is a young drug
dealer friend of Adnan in the neighborhood that conveniently knew very specific details of the
murder. He was able to lead police to Haes car and in the first interview he claimed that he met
Adnan at a strip off Edmondsons Avenue, saw the body, helped ditch the car, drives Adnan to
track practice, and they bury the body later in the afternoon (Koenig, 2014). This was very useful
knowledge to the authorities, although as time went one, Jays story continued to change. By the
second trial, Jays story had changed at least three times and help various inconsistencies that
could not be proven. These inconsistencies were not small details such as where around the car
Adnan stood, but the location Jay picked Adnan up and whether or not he knew ahead of time
that Adnan was going to commit this murder. Adnans defense should have dove further into
these lies to discover what Jay was trying to hide. In order to convict someone, you must rid of
reasonable doubt. These lies and changes in the story are the definition of doubt. Jay is an

uncredible witness that told various lies throughout the investigation and, somehow, his
testimony was a large part in putting a man in unjustly putting a man in jail for the rest of his life.
Jays testimony is the only solid evidence in this case, although, calling Jays story of
what happened that night solid is a stretch. Episode four is titled Inconsistencies, and Koenig
dives into the various inconsistencies there are in Jays story. While some may seem small, it is
shocking that other bigger details were not picked apart in court by Adnans defense. In 1999,
when Jay was first interviewed, he portrays himself as a very nice guy and says he would never
have anything to do with illegal activities, but as the interview goes on he calls himself a
criminal and states that he might have known about the murder (Wildes, 1999). If this young
man can not even keep his own description of himself consistent, why should anyone believe
anything he says? Jay initially told police that Adnan decided the day of that he was going to
murder Hae and that it was not a planned incident. Although, as trial got closer Jay stated that the
murder was planned four or five days in advance (Wildes, 1999). This is a blatant attempt by Jay
to push the blame on Adnan and make him seem even more guilty, when in reality he was
innocent. Another inconsistency was that first Jay stated that Adnan told him he was going to kill
Hae when they were shopping at Westview Mall, then he changes the story and says they were at
a completely different location at Security Square Mall (Koenig, 2014). This clearly shows Jay is
lying. Maybe they didnt shop at all? Maybe Adnan NEVER told Jay he had any intention of
killing Hae at all? All of these inconsistencies add to Jays unreliability and make many wonder
how his testimony held up in court.
Adnan did not have a great legal team, although Cristina Gutierrez is a very credible
lawyer, there is speculation that she threw the case. Shortly after the verdict came out, she was
disbarred. Many details of the case, that could have proven Adnans innocence, were not looked

into further. In the first podcast, Asia McClain stated that she remembered talking to Adnan that
day after school (McClain, 1999). Although Asia did not state the exact time she was with
Adnan, it was the closest thing he had to an alibi and if better handled, it may have proved his
innocence. This was a failure by the legal team, but they were given another chance to use this
information. Asia tried to help again in 2000 by writing an Affidavit, this time she was able to
provide a specific time period she was chatting with Adnan. The Affidavit stated that Asia was
with Adnan until 2:40 the 13th of January (McClain, 2000). If Asia is telling the truth, this simple
document proved Adnans innocence. Cristina Gutierrez failed to ever contact Asia McClain and
follow up on what most would see to be a huge lead. If Gutierrez had presented this evidence in
court, this case would have turned into a he said- she said situation. In that case, there would
have been more than reasonable doubt of Adnans innocence and he would not be living the rest
of his life in jail. It is understandable why many people argue that Cristina Gutierrez threw the
case and did not do what was best for Adnan.
Finally, the state used cell phone records to persuade the jury that Adnan was guilty.
According to the records, Adnan received two calls that pinged the cell tower that covered the
region of Leakin Park at 7:09 and 7:16pm. While that does seem incriminating, AT&T
announced a glitch in the location systems. The location status of outgoing call is reliable,
although the location of incoming calls can not be considered reliable (Everett, 2015). If Adnans
defense team was more careful in going over these documents, he would not have been
convicted. Without the calls, there is no proof of where Adnan Syed was at this time on January
13, 1999. This is another major error by Cristina Gutierrez and her team.
Is it shocking that Adnan Syed was found guilty for the first degree murder of Hae Min
Lee. Majority of the major evidence used against him in court can be torn apart, and the States

star witness, Jay, could have been quickly proven unreliable. No part of the case against Adnan
was strong enough to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. There was no fibers, DNA,
eyewitnesses, no reliable timeline, and no confessions. The State tried to make Adnan seem like
a stereotypical, violent, jealous ex-boyfriend, which he was not. Adnan still genuinely cared for
Hae Min Lee and would never have so willingly taken the life of someone he still cared about so
much. If the timeline has been better investigated, the AT&T cell tower records thrown out due to
their unreliability, Adnans legal team been more focused, and Jays testimony further questioned
and picked apart for its inconsistencies, Adnan Syed would have been found not guilty for the
murder of Hae Min Lee.

Bibliography
Koenig, S. (2014). (Producer). (2014). Serial Podcast Season 1: Episode 5: Route Talk [Audio

Podcast]. Retrieved from https://serialpodcast.org/season-one/5/route-talk

Koenig, S. (2014). Timelines: January 13, 1999 [Image]. Retrieved from
https://serialpodcast.org/maps/timelines-january-13-1999
Koenig, S. (2014). (Producer). (2014). Serial Podcast Season 1: Episode 4: Inconsistencies
.

[Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from

https://serialpodcast.org/season-one/4/inconsistencies
McClain, A (1999). Asias Letter to Adnan [Image]. Retrieved from
https://serialpodcast.org/season-one/1/the-alibi
Koenig, S. (2014). (Producer). (2014). Serial Podcast Season 1: Episode 1: The Alibi [Audio
Podcast]. Retrieved from https://serialpodcast.org/season-one/1/the-alibi