Olivia Hoffberger

Mrs. Hunt
AP Lang
15 December, 2016
Adnans Innocence
On January 13th, 1999, a seventeen year old girl by the name of Hae Min Lee went
missing. She was a senior at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County, Maryland and was
beautiful, smart, and quite cheerful. On February 9, about a month after Hae Lee went missing,
she was found dead by strangulation, buried in a park in Baltimore. A high school boy by the
name of Adnan Syed, Hae Lees ex-boyfriend, was charged for her murder and now is serving a
life sentence. The evidence that has been taken from the case is believed by many to be
extremely questionable, since the evidence was mainly taken from one mans story, a guy named
Jay. Adnan Syeds innocence is proven through many pieces of evidence including sources B, E,
and H.
Source B, the cell phone tower map, provides enough evidence that Adnan Syed could
very well be innocent. There are many ways the source A proves innocence. The map does not
give enough evidence or proof as to where Adnan was during this time. Cell phone towers reach
from miles away and therefore, the call could have come from a place far away from where the
cell tower is located. During the time that the cell phone tower was hit with the phone call, Jay
claims to have had possession of Adnans phone which brings to the table a question of how we
can know that Adnan was even there or not. The map does not show any exact evidence as to
where Adnan was since the cell tower picks up calls from miles away. The distance between the
I-70 park and ride, where Adnan allegedly left the body for track practice, and Forest Park, the

place Adnan and Jay allegedly picked up weed after leaving the body, is a very long distance.
Forest Park is also not on the way to Woodlawn High School, but is actually in the opposite
direction, which makes Jays case questionable.
Source E, Asias letter to Adnan, written on March 1, 1999, proves his innocence by
providing an alibi for the case. Through Asias letter, she expresses a belief that the library has
security footage so that everyone could see that Adnan was truly there during the time that the
murder was allegedly done. Asia provides as an alibi for Adnan for January 13 through the letter
as well. Throughout your actions that day, I have reason to believe in your innocence, says
Asia, expressing her belief that Adnan was not guilty. The states timeline would be botches if
Adnan was truly in the library which could potentially be a reason that the alibi letter were not
brought up during trial. Asia is an extremely important factor when it comes to Adnan being
proven innocent and her other letters and affidavits provide proof in the goal of what they were
written for.
Source H, Asias affidavit, January 13, 2015, gives all of the necessary information
needed to prove Adnan to be innocent. In the affidavit, Asia claims to have been convinced into
thinking a certain way; Adnan was guilty and there is no question about it, according to Kevin
Urick. Asia is extremely willing to help out in the court case and even offered to come to court
and give her testimony. If Asia was lying, she would not have been willing to go so far for a
person that she was not close friends with. Asia expresses that when she talked to Adnan, he
seemed calm and caring for Hae, proving that he had no ill-will towards her. Asia also talks
about the timing of when she saw him in the library on the day that Hae went missing. Asia said
that she left the library around 2:40 and Adnan was still there, disproving the 2:36 alleged
murder time. Asia also explains how her reasoning for writing the affidavit is so that justice is

served, the truth comes out, and not because she is being pressured. At the time when I wrote
those letters, I did not know that the State theorized that the murder took place just before 2:36
pm on January 13, 1999. The following statement shows that Asia was not aware that the state
even had a timeline on the murder, which proves she has no reason to lie or create fake times of
when she saw Adnan.
All of the sources mentioned have given reasoning as to why Adnan is innocent. The final
evidence to prove Adnan not guilty is the secrecy and the dubious argument given by Jay. There
are many questionable aspects of Jays story and evidence that does not add up. Jay is able to get
off scot-free, which is completely unfair considering the fact that he claims to have helped Adnan
bury the body and also knew that Hae Lee was dead for many hours. By analyzing source B,
Jays story can become more questionable due to the fact that he claimed to have had Adnans
cell phone during almost the entirety of the day. Sources E and H, both statements by Asia,
provide timing that makes sense for the case. Both sources E and H create confusion as to who is
lying and who is not. However, Asias timing and words make sense, unlike the timing and story
of Jay. Much more time should have been made looking over Jay and his past as well as time
trying to further figure out his involvement with the crime. In conclusion, there is much more
evidence in which can prove Adnan is innocent rather than guilty.