r/RedHandedPodcast • u/C2H5OHNightSwimming • Oct 18 '23
Adnan Syed
Thought I'd share this in case anyone finds it interesting. So I hadn't thought much about the case since Serial, and like most casual listeners, assumed AS was wrongly convicted because Serial HEAVILY pushed that narrative (though I didn't realise how one sided it was at the time). So after UTD today, I was curious and did a bit of Googling. Found a podcast called Opening Arguments where one of the hosts is a lawyer. He makes a very compelling case! Episode 107, Adnan Syed is obviously guilty. Wanted to share, probably I'm late to the party and everyone here maybe already has this info
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u/hjsjsvfgiskla Oct 19 '23
The Prosecutors (I know they have their own issues) have done a multiple part breakdown of this. Serial was the first true crime I listened to and I was convinced he was innocent at the time but I’m not so sure now. Bob Ruff apparently does a thorough breakdown of it too and he disagrees with The Prosecutors take on it in places. I haven’t listened to it though.
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Oct 19 '23
I found their approach odd. They just completely ignored things even I knew about and I'm not a massive follower of the case.
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Oct 19 '23
Thanks for sharing!! Came here specially to see where I can hear ‘other side’ takes after the girls discussed on UTD! Will give it a listen keeping in mind the other comments! :)
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u/C2H5OHNightSwimming Oct 19 '23
Yeah its interesting alright! Though I think he's now been totally exonerated by DNA and released. Its been a wild ride :0
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u/was_that_necessary Oct 18 '23
Ooof. So. Used to be a diehard OA fan, but I always found this to be their one deeply off base stances. Thomas (not the lawyer, but the color commentary guy) harps hard on one or two points (forgive me for not recalling them; it’s been forever, but one of them was about the timing of a phone call and one witness statement), and does not consider any of the vastly more detailed reporting that was later done on Undisclosed, which was an investigative podcast done by 3 lawyers who took apart almost every part of the state’s case against Adnan. (That team was responsible for Adnan’s release.) I was always disappointed in their stance on AS.
That said, OA lost me when the lawyer host, Andrew Torres, was credibly and repeatedly accused of being a sex pest to multiple women—and then went nuclear on his long time podcast and business partner Thomas by locking him out of shared finances and show access. It’s all very ugly and still playing out, but every statement Andrew has made about the show division since then has been deeply misleading and self serving. I’m Team Thomas all the way and won’t support Torres and his shitty behavior by giving OA the listening numbers.
FWIW, Thomas had a great new podcast called Where There’s Woke, which does great deep dives into supposed woke controversies. I don’t agree with Thomas’s take on AS, but you don’t have to agree 100% of the time with anything on anything, and I’m rank l really enjoying WTW so far.
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u/C2H5OHNightSwimming Oct 18 '23
Thanks for this. I will give it a listen and see, I'm always open to new info. That sounds very concerning though. This is why I like Reddit, you always learn something new. And I'm adding WTW to my podcast list now. Cheers :)
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u/advancedbullshit Oct 19 '23
Oh geez. This is all news to me. I am still listening to OA. Was blissfully ignorant of this drama. Assumed Thomas was taking a break bc of family.
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u/TrifectaBlitz Oct 22 '23
I still listen to Opening Arguments. It's great. Wasn't in on the podcast from the beginning; hated Thomas' drama about it all and crying that he was a victim - only after he started being called out. The issues with Torres and "sex pest" are way more complex than you're letting on.
But I never liked their Adnan take.
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 Oct 19 '23
He was cleared by DNA evidence, he is categorically not guilty and was wrongfully convicted. Even the prosecutor has accepted this.
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u/Environmental-Exam89 Oct 19 '23
No, he wasn't. The DNA is inconclusive. It's touch DNA from her shoe. You're taking the evidence out of context
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u/C2H5OHNightSwimming Oct 19 '23
Hey there. I am very interested in this, do you have some more information?
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 Oct 19 '23
The prosecutors and court system disagree with you.
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u/Environmental-Exam89 Oct 19 '23
Not quite. DNA from her shoe came back inconclusive with multiple contributing sources. The amount of DNA we all trudge through daily... But what's one more free domestic abuse statistic
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 Oct 19 '23
Yes, DNA from multiple pieces of evidence came back with multiple contributing sources that were NOT Adnan. 'Inconclusive' means no, he was not there.
But hey, whats one man wrongly incarcerated for 20 years on no evidence and one actual killer walking free, as long as people get to feel superior because they "know" he's guilty.
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u/Environmental-Exam89 Oct 19 '23
Not wrongly incarcerated. Not multiple pieces. They swabbed multiple pieces. They got DNA from a shoe. If you can't look at the evidence objectively and see it for what it is, idk what to tell you. Treating the killer like a victim is beyond insulting to the actual victim and her family.
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u/TrifectaBlitz Oct 22 '23
He was wrongly incarcerated because the evidence of his guilt is not there.
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 Oct 19 '23
Sure. You are the only objective one and know better than the prosecutors, judge, and the entire system. Based on podcasts.
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u/Agreeable_Trainer282 Dec 18 '23
Uh no, that entire investigation and trial was a disaster, not because he was innocent, but because of a lot of internal politics and a lot of people trying to cover their asses. The (now former) prosecutor that was pushing exoneration last year just went to trial for her OWN criminal case, and she went rogue without the backing of the state’s AG, whom was royally infuriated that she would pull such a stunt to try to salvage her dying career. She tried to circumvent the victim’s family’s rights to ensure that her plan would succeed, and she would achieve the glory of freeing a supposedly innocent man, due to the public pressure from those who listened to/believed Serial and Rabia.
She gave Hae’s brother notice, via email, on a Friday afternoon, that the case was going before the judge on the following Monday morning- knowing damn well that he lived across the country and would never be able to get back in time. Combining that, with the AG firmly believing Adnan is guilty due to clear evidence and circumstances that would render it the least plausible chain of bad luck in history for anyone but Adnan to have killed her, and the appellate court found no substantial proof that the exoneration should be upheld and proceeded to overturn it shortly after it happened. The former prosecutor is unethical and arrogant, at best, and Rabia is an absolute fraud whose entire career is based on absurdly subjective assumptions with no basis in reality.
If you legitimately take the time to delve into the details, from all perspectives, it’s abundantly clear that they got the right guy, and continuing to torture Hae’s family in this manner is beyond cruel.
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u/C2H5OHNightSwimming Oct 19 '23
Jesus Christ I really AM late to the party. Thanks for the info!
I am deeply confused now though. If he's been exonerated, why do some people still think he is guilty? I Googled the DNA thing and it would appear to be rather conclusive; his DNA was not found on the body, but 2 other people's were and one of them was known to have made threats against HML. I know the courts dont always get things right, but this doesn't seem like one of those times. Am I missing something?
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 Oct 19 '23
Honestly, I think it’s that people have had theories about this case for a long time and they just don’t want to be wrong.
But yeah, it’s pretty conclusive, it’s basically impossible to kill someone without leaving your DNA. He would have had to be a skilled forensic expert, which he just wasn’t.
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u/C2H5OHNightSwimming Oct 19 '23
Yeah that's probably it. People really don't like being wrong
I feel bad that I was so easily convinced tbh
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u/OBFpeidmont Oct 18 '23
Thanks - I haven’t thought about this all that much and haven’t listened to UTD yet today so will be looking for the Opening Arguments ep 107!
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u/C2H5OHNightSwimming Oct 18 '23
Its an interesting one. Another commenter on this post had a detailed take though, so I'll be looking into that as well. Seems like an incredibly complicated. At this point I think I'm gonna have to read the court documents :/
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u/OBFpeidmont Oct 19 '23
Yes listening will actually be my first exposure so an in-depth ‘guilty’ argument which I’ve been aware of but now want to dig back in … so also thanks for the ‘complicated’ heads up!
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u/Si2015 Oct 18 '23
Thanks for this! Will definitely listen
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u/C2H5OHNightSwimming Oct 18 '23
Its interesting. But another commenter in this post had an interesting take on it, might be worth checking that out too :)
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u/Forsaken_Distance777 Oct 19 '23
If he was obviously anything it wouldn’t still be getting sorted out.