I listened to the Serial podcast on my way down to NYC the other day, and I have more than a few things to say about it. If you plan on listening to the podcast, I suggest you do that before reading this rant.

The Analysis

I can appreciate what Sarah was trying to do. She was faced with a woman who claimed that there was an innocent man in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, and she set out to find out whether that was, in fact, true, making it necessary to look at all the facts objectively so as not to jump to unnecessary conclusions. What I cannot appreciate was some of the analysis. The following is a list of my issues with the analysis:

1.    Duplicitous behavior- The prosecution tried to say that Adnan demonstrated duplicitous behavior by sneaking around behind his family’s back and letting them believe that he was a faithful Muslim. The Serial podcast mentions that many kids in Adnan’s community did this, but what I think they fail to make really clear is that ALL TEENAGERS do this kind of stuff. If someone were to take a fine tooth comb to anyone’s past and look at all the stuff they did when they were teenagers, I am almost positive that you would find some duplicitous behavior there, none of it indicating that you are a sociopathic murderer. I would say this applies to the episode on his skimming money from the synagogue as well (in that case maybe not all teenagers steal, but it’s certainly not uncommon- note that one of the interviewees talks about how she used to steal CDs from the Best Buy on a regular basis).

2.    Muslim bias- At one point, Sarah says that she does not think Adnan was convicted because he was Muslim. She says the judge was very careful to screen for this, but at the same time she admits that the prosecution worked it into their theme of the case. Namely, the idea that Adnan had gone behind his family’s back to date Hae, that when she broke up with him he was upset, and that it hurt his pride to see her with another guy, which made him snap and kill her. When asked why the jury convicted Adnan, one them spit the prosecution’s narrative out, almost verbatim. On a Ted Talk podcast, a Middle Eastern man talked about how he and his friends tried to pass as Italian after the movie “Not Without My Daughter” came out. Yeah that was 1991, but the prosecution’s narrative basically tracks the plot of the movie (i.e. Americanized Middle Eastern Man becomes possessive because of his conservative Muslim family and ultimately snaps, causing the woman harm). How can she dismiss this a contributing factor?

3.    The challenge- At one point, Sarah and her producer Dana take on Adnan’s challenge that he couldn’t have gotten to the Best Buy parking lot in 21 minutes. They conclude it’s possible based on a re-enactment. I take issue with it for two reasons (1) they said that Hae made it to her car in 2 minutes after the bell rang. I find that doubtful considering that several people seemed have talked to her about whether she would give Adnan a ride after school and (2) it does not take one and a half minutes to strangle a healthy, athletic teenage girl (that last point was first made by my friend Jeanenne, who is pretty damn close to being a licensed nurse, and I agree).

4.    The 2:36 call- The 2:36 call and, by association, the Best Buy pay phone seems irrelevant considering it seems that Hae wasn’t even dead by then. For this reason, I would say that the whole phone record may be irrelevant, because what if she didn’t even die on the 13th. The police work in this case was pretty crappy, despite Serial’s expert detective opinion to the contrary. There was forensic evidence that they never even bothered to test, and this podcast demonstrates how much information they failed to go over in their investigation. So, why should we even be looking at the 13th phone records as definitive? Maybe all the records reflect is that Jay had Adnan’s phone during the afternoon, and they spent the day riding around doing stupid shit.

5.    The cell tower pings- (1) it was determined in subsequent cases that this type of evidence is unreliable (2) the Lekin Park ping could have been related to the trip to the guy’s house (Phil or Paul)- note that the park was so close to where the school and the drug spots were that a ping from the tower cannot really prove much of anything (3) none of it lines up with Jay’s story for the period of time that Adnan supposedly killed Hae!! I don’t give a shit that it kind of matches up after six. What does that even mean? and (4) Courts have since declined to admit cell phone tower evidence as credible, so why spend so much time on it?

6.    Jay’s story- Jay knew where the car was, and he described the murder. The only thing this demonstrates to me is that it’s quite possible that he did it. If that’s the case, that means he got two years probation for murdering a girl. Furthermore, why isn’t anyone asking whether he is a sociopath? Everyone keeps on saying how believable he seemed. Why not apply the same analysis to him as they did to Adnan? That makes absolutely no sense to me. As for his friend’s testimony (Jen), she spoke to Jay before talking to the cops, so they could have gotten talked about what she was supposed to say. I’m just saying if we’re going to be skeptical, it seems to make more sense to be skeptical here.

7.    Don’s alibi- Don’s alibi was corroborated by his manager, who was also his mother. You’re telling me he couldn’t have slipped out, strangled Hae, and buried her later? Also, if Hae’s own boyfriend (who says he loved her!!) didn’t call after she went missing, why give Adnan (her ex-boyfriend) a hard time about not calling? They do mention this in the podcast, but not to the degree I would have liked. Also neglected is the fact that Don had been betrayed by the last few girlfriends he had before Hae. The “snap” theory makes more sense here than it does for Adnan. What doesn’t make sense is why Jay would know the location of the car. However, this assumes Jay didn’t know Don, which we don’t know.

8.    Adnan’s memory- HE SMOKED WEED SEVERAL TIMES A DAY!!!!! Why is it so damned surprising that he couldn’t remember where he was that day? Also, I agree with Adnan that the phone call from the police is not enough to make it significant. If he was innocent, why would he have any reason to think that something was strange, or that he should have been tracing his steps? If you were (as admitted by Don), maybe that means you’re guilty.

9.    The Defense Attorney- she sucked, plain and simple. She may have been good in her prime, but from what I heard, it was not ok. Also, the cash issues seem more like criminal activity, not a woman who doesn’t know that she can’t take on anymore work. Those did not seem like good faith mistakes to me.

10.    Adnan’s lack of anger- I can tell you from my own experience that you have to let things go, or else you’ll go crazy. Adnan was right; it doesn’t matter what other people think of you. You have to find your own peace, and that’s no one’s business but your own.

11.    Convenient set of bad circumstances- Dana asked, “how could one guy be so unlucky?” Well, I’ve been that unlucky, so I know all about it. Besides, the mistake I think that was made was that the evidence was all being looked at from the prosecution’s arguments and assumptions. Too many of these assumptions were taken for granted.

12.    The Nisha call- Which brings me to the Nisha call. I don’t think this was as significant as they made it out to be. First of all, Adnan’s memory from that day was fuzzy at best, so who knows when he had his phone and didn’t. I don’t think it proves anything either way. Second of all, what if Jay called her. You’re telling me teenage boys never call cute girls their friends are talking to so that they can try and get with them? Maybe he called and pretended to be Adnan. You’re telling me that’s impossible too? Come on!! This is not responsible adults we’re talking about. I can remember a couple of times where guys I didn’t know got my number from someone else and called me. Therefore, the Nisha call is not that big of deal.

With all that being said. I can see how it’s easy to get lost among the weeds in this case, and I think the Serial team tried to do as thorough of a job as possible. I’m also grateful, because it beautifully portrays how easy it is to get convicted on serious charges with circumstantial evidence at best, which brings me to my next point.

The Constitutional Issues

The thing that bothered me most about this case was how easily this seventeen year old boy was convicted of murder. I really can’t get over this.

The Sixth Amendment gives us the right to a speedy, public trial, the right to an attorney, and a right to face our accuser. The point of this and other Constitutional protections is to protect citizens from the arbitrary enforcement of the law. Technically, Adnan received the due process required by law, but I am still disturbed. Why am I disturbed? I’m disturbed because what happened flies in the face of what is Constitutionally required. If it is possible for prosecutors to bring such a thin case against you, with no physical evidence whatsoever, inappropriately involve themselves with witnesses, and use racial bias to manipulate the jury, then what the hell is the point?! The result is due process in name only.

This case should not have been brought before a jury, but it was, and it happens all the time!! Charges should not be brought unless a person’s guilt is fairly certain. Otherwise, the individual is stuck proving a negative, which can quickly become a losing battle. That is also why we have a reasonable doubt standard, much of which was found in this case. It is stories like this one that make me realize how much history repeats itself. We are no better now than the tyranny our Founding Fathers hoped to correct (of course that’s a whole other matter).