Adnan Syed gets a new trial

I listened to it. I really cannot tell what his guilt or innocence is, but I'd like to hear if there is new evidence.

Ditto.

I am glad.

I'm glad that he got a new trial. I'm also not sure what I think about his guilt/innocence, but it will be interesting to see what new evidence is there. 

Thanks for the heads up! My opinion of his guilt or innocence waffled (as the podcast was probably orchestrating) but my first impression was guilty as was my final verdict. I too would be interested in hearing any new evidence though.

Listen to the podcast “Undisclosed.” It goes into more depth about his case. I think you may be convinced of his innocence. There was actually no evidence at all tying him to the murder.

I sway back and forth on his guilt or not. But if there is new evidence, then he should get a new trial. I predict now that he will be found not guilty.

I listened to Serial and Undisclosed. A few things that always bothered me...

1) Jay was the star witness for the prosecution and his story changed constantly. Many of the things he said happened did not match the physical evidence, and eventually his story changed so that it did align. He was completely unreliable. There was one recording of his interrogation? confession? where he was explaining what happened. It was a little different than some of the other versions he told. As he is talking, you can faintly hear a knock, knock, knock. He stops talking, says, "Oh yeah...," and then changes what he was saying. It definitely sounded like the knocking was a signal from someone in the room letting him know he wasn't saying what he was supposed to say.

2) His attorney, Cristina Gutierrez, was completely incompetent. I mean absolutely terrible. One of her many missteps was not interviewing his alibi witness. She was eventually disbarred because of her incompetence on more than one case. She had been a good attorney at one point but speculation was that she was ill and not able to handle the cases she had taken. Some attorneys familiar with Adnan's case described her conduct as bizarre.

3) There were lots of little things like questions about the victim's new boyfriend's timecards appeared to have been altered or hours not accounted for. I believe his mom was the manager and there were suspicions that she had doctored his work history to make it appear that he had been working at the time of the victim's death.

There were other things as well. At the very least, he deserves a new trial. And to be allowed bail while awaiting that new trial.

I agree he does deserve a new trial. 

I didn't listen to Undisclosed. I think Rabia is a very valuable friend and a fierce advocate but also the living embodiment of both confirmation bias and vengeance. She decided twenty years ago that her little brother's really sweet friend was innocent and she'll go after anyone who doesn't agree like a pit bull. And I'm sorry, but the tap-tapping as evidence of a police conspiracy is pretty representative of much of her hard evidence.

I've forgotten a lot so I won't do well with this.

-Specifically, I certainly believe that some cops lie and cut corners, but I just don't believe they invent witnesses out of whole cloth. Especially two witnesses. So I don't believe the Rabia narrative, that white detectives conspired to frame an honors student Muslim kid by illegally feeding tons of information, including the car and burial location, to create a star witness out of who? A black kid with a record from Baltimore. Who they could have easily framed. Who they convinced to lie and say he helped transport.a.body. Which means his friend Jen also agreed to lie. And the police, instead of telling the victim's family their missing daughter's car was found, withheld the information so they could cook up this story and then pretend to find the car all over again? 

Makes.absolutely.no.sense. I believe the cops' story: They found calls to Jen and Jay on Adnan's phone. Jay denied any knowledge at first, then Jen came in with her dad and a lawyer to spill the beans, so Jay spilled and led them to Hae's car and the grave and a murder case.

-The cell phone records, while somewhat debatable, are still important. -Jay is a goofball who is all over the place (another reason not to pick him as star witness), but Adnan also lied a lot, to police and others, and I think even the host admitted he lied to her. -Alibi Girl is wholly unreliable. I think there are two HS friends who reported she fabricated the alibi to help out Adnan. Then she disappeared for 15 years. Now she's written a book...

More generally, I think Adnan was really good at playing the podcast host and us -The jury found the witnesses believable enough that they only took a couple hours to convict -Most women are killed by somebody they know, often a romantic partner -Strangulation is often the choice of intimate partners. 

tl;dr: Jay's friend knew a lot. Jay knew where the car and body were. Cell phone records. Adnan's lies. No alibi. Motive.

Like I said, I've forgotten a lot. And maybe I got some of this wrong. But clearly, I would be dismissed by the defense as a potential juror. Heh. But he had a previously-good lawyer who was unraveling at the end of her life, and there is some new cell phone stuff. And Rabia. And a hugely famous podcast that, even though it was initially presented as an examination of the unreliability of memory, had a huge influence. 

That wasn't Rabia's evidence. That was an observation made by one of the other podcasters. They stated it was something they noticed and found odd. They admitted it didn't prove anything. I found it interesting but not necessarily proof either. Regardless, Jay was a terrible witness who couldn't get his story straight.

Bottom line is Adnan's attorney was completely incompetent and did not represent him well. Missed evidence, ignoring potential alibi witnesses, convoluted questioning, and strange courtroom behavior all damaged his chance at a fair trial. And that is why he is getting a new trial. Maybe he'll be found guilty again, but at least the metaphorical scales of justice will be a little more balanced this time.

I'll admit that my DS was a 17-year-old senior in high school as I listened to both podcasts. It absolutely sickened me that there was a possibility that a kid was serving a life sentence for a crime he didn't commit. I know if it was my son, I would want everything to be fair.

Bolded things: 

1. Okay, thanks. I think I just consider anything that comes from Rabia's podcast/blog/Twitter as at least sanctioned by her. Not sure when she sleeps.

2. I agree with the new trial. Always have. I just think lots and lots of people should get better representation and new trials. The whole idea of people being more enthusiastic about a new trial for someone they believe is innocent is just interesting to me. Hmmm, I can't explain that right. I GET the interest and the support; I just wonder what the deeper implications are for our justice system and for all defendants. Hope that makes sense.

This was my first podcast to listen to and it was fascinating.  I can't wait to follow the new trial.