Adnan Syed

Media Text Assignment

Ibrahim Jaweed

ENG4U1

Julia Trenton

June 5, 2023
One of the most controversial and captivating criminal cases of our time is the case of Adnan
Syed. A man convicted of the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee.18-year-old Hae
Min Lee’s body was found at a park in Baltimore nearly a month after she had gone missing. Her
ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was arrested shortly after and convicted of the crime but the legality
of his incarceration is one that is questionable. Adnan, who was 17 at the time of Hae’s death,
was found guilty by a jury of murder, robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment and he was
sentenced to life in prison. Despite such a harsh punishment, the
only “evidence” that the state had against Adnan was the story by
a guy named Jay. The prosecution’s case was built around the
mobile phone data, although they are, at best, inconclusive.

There are too many contradictions in the interpretation of the cell

tower pings that locate Adnan at the crime site with certainty.
Moreover, there have been many inconsistencies in Jay’s story
and evidence has been found that Jay has been heavily coached
by the officers. This raises questions about Jay’s credibility and
the key events of the story “prove” by cellular records obtained from Adnan’s phone.

The prosecution’s case is bought into question when their motive is debunked by everyone that
knew of Hae Min Lee and Adan. The prosecution’s evidence of the cell records is inconclusive.
None of the calls made in the middle of the day, including those at
3:21 to Jenn, 3:32 to Nisha, 3:48 to a guy named Phil, and 3:59 to
Patrick, pinged a tower close to where Jay claims they were driving
that day. None at all.However. Despite the fact that Jay’s testimony at
trial identified and accounted for all of these mid-afternoon calls, the
prosecution chose not to raise the issue of the unmatched cell towers,
Next, the alleged "come get me" call Adnan Syed made to Jay from a
payphone at Best Buy, where he later showed Jay the dead body of
Hae Min Lee, was one of the key pieces of evidence the state claimed
to have against him. The police officers failed to exercise their due
diligence in determining whether a payphone even existed, despite the
fact that the state used the cell data to prove this call occurred. Jay had created a map or graphic
of Best Buy that included an illustration of the payphone outside the store next to the parking
area. However, neither inside nor outside of Best Buy had pay phones. Employees who were
questioned by Sarah Koenig confirmed there was no pay phone. Another witness came forward
who used to shoplift from Best Buy was also confident there was no pay phone. Moreover, Best
Buy didn’t have any contract with a service provider which further proves the flaws in Jay’s
testimony. Lastly, Jay’s testimony changed numerous times, At first, the details were minor but
then they proceeded to become apparent. For instance, Jay claims in the first recorded interview
that Adnan only told him about his plan to murder Hae that day. Two weeks later, Jay claims that
Adnan had begun discussing it earlier; four or five days earlier, four or five days earlier,
according to Jay, Adnan had asked for his assistance in carrying out the murder on the twelfth,
the night before Hae vanished. Is this variation, Jay also lets Jenn know about it beforehand.
However, when Jay testifies at trial, he reverts to the original account, claiming that he was
unaware of the incident until the day of the hearing and that he didn’t take it seriously, The
strength of the evidence is insufficient to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Adnan’s
innocence is suggested by the discrepancies in the mobile phone records and the doubtful witness
evidence.