Adnan Syed: A Guilty Case Study

On January 13, 1999, in Baltimore, Maryland, Woodlawn High School senior Hae Min Lee disappeared. Her body was later found on February 9, 1999 in Leakin Park. The primary suspect of Hae Lee’s murder by strangulation was her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed. He has been convicted of first degree murder and has served 17 years. Through the testimonies of the many witnesses and other evidence collected, it is evident that Adnan Syed is guilty of Hae Min Lee’s murder, however, this is case has grown very controversial, especially after Serial’s release, and many believe the justice system failed Adnan; the members of our society trust our justice system, it is not always perfect, it has flaws, but it is still expected to carry out its function, to protect the innocent, and every time

In episode 7, Sarah admits to Deirdre Enright, who works at the University Of Virginia School Of Law and runs their Innocence Project clinic, that there isn’t any “gross negligence or malfeasance or something on the part of the detectives or the State Attorney’s office, everyone seems to be doing their job, responsibly.” The people working on the case were doing their jobs correctly, and Adnan was convicted, not because the case was built for his conviction, but because the evidence and other information collected pointed to Adnan’s guilt. And Jim Trainum, the detective hired by the Serial staff, tells Sarah that “the detectives in this case were cautious and methodical. They weren’t rushing to grab suspects or to dismiss them either. The evidence collection was well documented,” and that the case is “better than average” (Ep. 8, Jim). Nobody was rushing to convict Adnan specifically. The detectives were not simply picking and choosing evidence that looked bad for Adnan, they were doing their jobs