A Bowl of Serial: The Murder of Hae Min Lee

[starri]

So Adnan gets a new trial and Asia may have been lying.  Where, if anywhere, do we go from here?

[Yokosmom]

I suspect that Adnan will win his new trial, due in part to the length of time that has passed.  I don't know if there is enough evidence to convict him a second time in a court of law.  That said, I still think he is guilty as sin. (Ducking brickbats thrown in my general direction).

[starri]

I don't think anything short of a confession will convince me 100% of his guilt, no matter if he's convicted again or not.  But I also don't think an acquittal will convince me of his innocence either.

I really could go either way.  I'm sort of where Sarah Koenig was at the end of the podcast:  I don't think he's guilty, but I'm not sure.

[glowbug]

I'm curious why anyone would think he was guilty. Maybe if your knowledge of the case starts and ends with Serial I can see it but having listened to nearly every follow up podcast to Serial season one I am as sure as I can be without having actually witnessed the murder that Adnan is innocent. None of Jay's fifty different stories fit with the physical evidence. The cell phone pings don't actually indicate location in any way. Jay likely helped the cops frame Adnan for reward money and to avoid having them put the murder on him. Don, Hae Min Lee's boyfriend at the time of her death, faked his alibi and has made contradictory statements about his feelings towards her. I think he's the most likely suspect. The police in this case, as in too many others, decided on a suspect at the beginning of the investigation and tried to make the evidence fit him rather than let the evidence lead them to a conclusion. 

ETA: Just to be clear I'm genuinely curious. As someone firmly in the Adnan is innocent camp I just can't see the other side.

Edited November 30, 2016 by glowbug

[starri]

Here's where I'm at:  I wouldn't believe Jay if he told me his name was Jay.  The state's timeline is nonsense.  The prosecution giving "Well, Adnan is a Muslim and you know how they are" as a motive offends me.  The BPD did a shit job investigating the case.

...and yet.

I can't make another suspect fit.  That's no reason to convict Adnan, but if not him, then who?  Jay?  Don?  Members of a small foreign faction?

[Yokosmom]

I believe that he's guilty.  This is totally separate from whether I think that there is enough evidence to convict him.  

It is down to either him or Jay.  Adnan had a motive--Jay did not.  I think that some of Jay's stories are to cover up the fact that he was an accessory, and not necessarily after the fact.   I agree that the timeline is out of whack.

Jay may be a liar, but his description of Adnan's words "How dare she do this to me" or something to that effect had the sound of truth to me.

So, so convenient that he loaned his car and cell phone to Jay that day.  How coincidental that Jay could have butt dialed someone that only Adnan knew.

Adnan lied about not knowing where the park was (where Hae's body was found).

Adnan was not over the breakup.  Hae was hiding from him in school.  There's the "I will kill" message. 

Don?  He only dated her for 8? days.   How did Jay know where Hae's car was located if Don killed her?

I actually think that Serial is more biased in favor of Adnan than against.  It left some damning details out.  The other main podcast on the case, which of course I can't remember now, is blatantly pro-Adnan, so it isn't exactly unbiased either.

One of the cops said it was a simple domestic violence case--I believe that too.  

YMMV--I have no problem with people believing that he's innocent.  There's evidence for both opinions.

Edited December 6, 2016 by Yokosmom

[jenrising]

Unsurprisingly, Adnan is not getting out on bail. 

[biakbiak]

Appeals court agrees with the lower court thst Adnan deserves a new trial.

[glowbug]

2 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Appeals court agrees with the lower court thst Adnan deserves a new trial.

I'm glad and not at all surprised. It was very clear that a lot was wrong with the original trial and investigation. I don't believe Adnan is guilty, but regardless of his guilt or innocence, he didn't receive a fair trial. His lawyer was beyond ineffective and the prosecution violated the law to convict him.