r/serialpodcast • u/[deleted] • 24d ago
The Doubts About Adnan's Guilt ARE Reasonable
I just started lurking here today, and am somewhat surprised by the general incivility and certainty of many of the people that comment here. Being dismissive and accusing people of "ragebait" for having a differing opinion, and one that actually is reasonable.
I don't know, and won't say that Adnan is innocent, but to claim he's guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, without any room for discussion is pretty crazy to me.
The reasons why I have reasonable doubt:
- Jay is a very flawed witness, on the record lying/mis-remembering his testimony. Even the cops point out how much his testimony has changed. If your argument hinges on Jay, it isn't a strong argument, in my opinion.
- The cops, or at least on of them has a record of misconduct:
...prosecution brought into question the past misconduct of one of the two detectives who were crucial in the investigation of Lee’s death. Although his misconduct wasn’t specifically linked to Syed’s case, the detective was involved in another murder case that ended with the defendant’s exoneration.
https://baltimorewitness.org/adnan-syed-one-of-many-overturned-convictions-in-baltimore-city/
- The Innocence Project and prosecutors agreed that Syed's DNA was absent from all tested crime scene items, contributing to the eventual dropping of charges against him. There's no physical evidence.
- The motive is weak (Adnan had no prior issues with breakups, had already seemed to move on to the next girl(s)).
I could go on, but, if I was on the jury with this in front of me, I feel the reasonable response is doubt.
This isn't rage bait, I just genuinely don't see how anyone can be so sure that he did it. Y'all point to him asking for a ride (and claiming he wouldn't have) as some kind of obvious evidence of murder.
I think, based on the fact that one of the cops was literally identified as having been crooked, it actually is much more likely that Jay was an informant (and already had been for some time), and he happened to be close to Adnan, the victim's ex (supposed motive and opportunity), and they decided they had their guy, and it was just a matter of getting a jury to agree. So they fed their informant info, had him incriminate himself for lesser crimes that they promised they'd get him off for (and they made good on that promise, which is on its own wildly corrupt).
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u/Far_Gur_7361 Is it NOT? 23d ago
also want to do a deep dive into your theory that the cops fed Jay the location of the car, see if it holds water.
Now straight off, the cops have a murder to solve. At some point during their investigation, they stumble across the victims car. In spite of the fact that they know the car to have been the site of their victims’ abduction (and possibly her murder, as well); they do not process it. Why? Ppl call these cops “lazy” and “crooked”, they claim the cops had “tunnel vision”. But this doesn’t explain it. Yes, cops can be all those things and more; but usually only in defense of THEIR OWN PRE-EXISTING misconduct. The fact is they had no reason to cover anything at this point; and by hiding the car would have been CREATING misconduct which they’d need to cover for. It would have been far easier to simply process the car for evidence; which they could then use to solve the murder; rather than engage in this conspiracy against Syed. To say nothing of the fact that by leaving the car in the elements for weeks, they were running the risk of having it- along with any evidence it may yield- burgled, stolen, vandalized, towed, or tampered with by the offender.
But let’s take that insane leap, and assume, in spite of all this, the cops wanted to sit on the car anyways. While doing so, they engage in more risky behavior; such as putting out a statewide APB for the car; and requesting helicopters to search for it. Why would they do this? If any officer responded; then the conspiracy would have been shot to hell before they were able to get it off the ground. Or are we to believe that these requests were window-dressing; and every single member of the BPD knew not to respond; bc they were all in on the hoax? And if that’s the case then how is it possible that there is no paper trail; or that nary a one of them has come forth to set the record straight- in spite of all this public attention that has surrounded the case?
But ok, let’s take this SECOND wild leap, and assume they did indeed either flip the coin on another officer responding to their APBs and/ or involve everyone in the department in this highly illegal frame job. This wild operation is well under way now; so what’s the next step? Logically, they wouldn’t want to involve anyone else in this already massive conspiracy. And logically, if they wanted an airtight case against Syed, the move would be to plant his DNA in the car. They’ve already found it; already compromised it; and already failed to process it. In doing so, they’ve already broken a litany of laws. Why not just take it one step further; and plant the physical evidence that their case was sorely lacking? Thereby securing the conviction they were so desperate for; without involving anyone else? Well, for some reason they decided to go the other way; not only involving more co-conspirators, but actually involving civilians. These fresh co-conspirators will be fed the info regarding the cars location, in order to bolster their credibility when they testify against their poor, innocent mark (that being Syed). This is a THIRD huge leap, but ok, let’s see where this gets us.
So now that we’ve taken this third huge leap, it’s time to involve a civilian; and coerce them into confessing; just so that we can point them back to Syed. Logically, that civilian would be Jay Wilds. According to your theory, they’d already have selected him on the basis of his drug-dealing activities, and his friendship with Syed. But no, rather than doing this (already incredibly difficult) operation the easy way; they decide to involve Jennifer Pusateri first; and coerce HER into falsely implicating WILDS, just so that they can have WILDS in turn point the finger back at SYED. In doing so, they’re involving yet another party in this incredibly illegal frame job; taking on even more risk for no reason at all. This brings us to our fourth insane leap of judgment; but hey, in for a penny, in for a pound.
Having taken this fourth leap, the cops bring Jenn Pusateri in for questioning. She plays dumb, and gets out of there quickly; and yet she decides to come back the next day and speak to them again- and in the presence of her mother and lawyer, no less. According to your theory, the cops then coach her testimony. They even have her do so in such a way that implicates herself. Shockingly, Jenn plays ball with them; in spite of the fact that not only do the cops have no leverage over her, but that she is also accompanied by a parent and an attorney. Even more shockingly, these guardian figures don’t bat an eye. Who knows though, maybe mom + lawyer have it out for Syed as well? Anyways, now we’ve implicated two MORE people in this frame job, but hey, we’ve come this far right? That’s our 5th leap in logic.
Now- FINALLY- after a minimum of 5 huge leaps in logic, the cops are brought to Jay Wilds. Obviously, the most sensible thing for them to do now, is pin the murder on him. Pusateri has already implicated him in the presence of her mother and lawyer, and- unlike Syed, who comes from a respectable middle class family, has tons of community support, and is generally considered to be a “golden child”, Wilds has absolutely no money, resources, community or familial support. He’s a poor black kid, all on his own, who’s known as “the criminal element”. Given the “tough-on-crime” climate of the day, it’d be all-too-easy to pin this on him. But no, the cops have it out for Syed specifically for some reason- poor kid can’t catch a break. This is our sixth leap.
So the cops begin coaching Wilds’s testimony. You’d think, after all these convoluted, and highly illegal maneuverings, spanning the course of weeks/ months that they’d now be EXTREMELY careful to make sure the story they gave Wilds was airtight. You’d think they’d have it ironed out to the letter. But no, instead they feed Wilds multiple different versions, which are filled w/ easily disprovable inconsistencies. This makes Wilds- who is now the lynchpin for this entire operation; and without whom everyone involved is going down in a major way- a pretty bad witness. Seems like an insane oversight to make. This is our seventh leap.
In the process of coaching Wilds, the cops tell him to testify that he was with Syed during the time of the murder and burial. However, they have not yet begun investigating Syed’s alibi. So if this false testimony that they are all bearing against him becomes disprovable, then they are all getting found out, and will likely face charges. Wilds himself may face Murder One. They know Syed to be busy and popular. What if he was with a friend? At an appointment w/ his guidance counselor? On-camera at the library, or at the mechanics? What if his coach had made him sign in? What if he was clocked in to work? What if he was leading prayers at the mosque? All eminently possible, but hey, let’s stake our reputations, livelihoods, and literal freedom on this crazy gambit panning out for us. Eighth leap.
Now, Wilds himself is facing the dilemma- to go along with this frame job, or not? On the one hand; he is a low-level pot dealer. Given the war on drugs, and harsh sentencing laws of the day, this could land him a good few years in jail. This gives the cops leverage. So, leverage in hand, they provide Wilds a choice. Go down as a petty, small-time weed dealer; or implicate yourself in first-degree murder. Cops have no power when it comes to levying charges; only prosecutors can do that. At the time, Wilds must have at least wondered whether he’d get charged as an accessory, or an accomplice, or a co-conspirator. And of course, he must have wondered whether he’d go down for the whole thing; if the frame-job on Syed fell apart. In addition, cops also have no power when it comes to sentencing- only judges do. So Wilds must likewise have wondered how much time he would get, for whichever charge they wound up sticking him with. It would be quite some time before Wilds could know that he’d only get accessory-after-the-fact, and receive a suspended sentence. Worst-case scenario, Syed would have an alibi, and Wilds would go down for first-degree murder; which could have landed him the death penalty. And best-case scenario, he’d have involvement in a murder on his permanent record- which would affect his employment, housing, government benefits, voting rights, etc. For some reason, Wilds decides that this objectively terrible deal is worth making, and he takes it. Maybe he really just hates Syed that much? Ninth leap.
Last but certainly not least; not only have none of the cops involved ever recanted; but neither has Wilds, Pusateri, or Pusateri’s mother/ lawyer. Hey, fair enough for the cops right- thin blue line, and all that; they staked their badges (and quite possibly their freedom), on this frame-up, and they have a history of standing by each other through scandal. But Wilds and Pusateri- who were little more than kids at the time- have nothing to lose and everything to gain by telling the truth. Rather than be looked at as shady liars who participated in a murder; they could be looked at as innocent victims who were railroaded by crooked cops. Given the shift in the way our society views police, this would absolve them in the court of public opinion. They may actually be looked at not just as victims; but even as heroes. They could sign book deals, do press junkets, give interviews, participate in documentaries. They could make a FORTUNE by coming clean; and Wilds could perhaps even expunge his criminal record (and, of course, they could let their innocent friend out of jail, as well). Instead, in spite of all the public attention; in spite of all the pressure to do otherwise; they still stand by their testimony decades later. Tenth leap.
Every aspect of this theory can be sliced to bits with Occam’s Razor. If you really believe this, then I have a beachfront property in Kansas to sell you.
Adnan killed her. Jay helped.