Two episodes have been posted so far, with weekly updates.
The current series is about a 17-year-old high school student named Adnan, convicted 15 years ago of killing his girlfriend. He says he didn’t do it. We hear him tell his own version (via collect calls from prison), and then hear other accounts - a taped police interview of a friend whose testimony was crucial in implicating him, words from a woman who said she saw him at the library when the crime occurred (she was never called to testify), even the victim’s diary entries, relating the ups and downs of their romance.
Each episode is planned to cover a different aspect of the story: Adnan’s arrest and conviction (his lawyer was later disbarred and may not have given a good defense), the young couple’s relationship and school life, the friends who defend Adnan today. I don’t know how long it will continue; however future series will cover topics besides crime. So far it’s similar to This American Life, but much more in-depth than their typical short pieces. How this current series will end is unknown - it’s likely not going to reach any dramatic conclusion (like say Adnan walking free). But that’s real life.
I wonder if anyone else here is following this. What are your thoughts?
I like it so far. Sarah Koenig is always great on TAL, and you can really feel her swings of emotion and belief in Adnan’s guilt or innocence.
Whether he is guilty or not, it strikes me as pretty appalling that we can lock up someone for life based on the testimony of a single witness when there is zero corroborating physical evidence. My daughter did Mock Trial in high school. This is the kind of case where the prosecuting team would be dancing like mad to distract from the fact that they had very little to go on.
I have subscribed to this podcast and have listened to the first two episodes. I plan to keep listening. For the past six months to a year, I have noticed a diminishment in the quality of new episodes of This American life as well as what seemed like an unusual number of rebroadcasts. I’m glad to know now that the probable cause of all of that was the same small staff working on this new series.
I agree with RickG that it is just mindblowing that this guy is in jail based on the uncorroborated testimony of one dude. I don’t care if he did it or not, that should not be enough to send someone away for more than fifteen years.
The show has been good so far, with all of the story-telling skill and production values that have made me enjoy TAL for years.
I am listening as well, and completely agree with your point about TAL.
I wonder though if future episodes will talk more about why he was convicted. I know she said that the other guy’s testimony was the only evidence, but I wonder if the picture painted for the jury at the time was more compelling.
If you enjoy the podcast, you should visit the website. It has maps, photos, and evidence. It was interesting seeing the map where Hae was dumped. A crazy number of bodies have been dumped in the park where she was found.
So far, it seems he was convicted nearly entirely on the testimony of his friend (Jay?). But, we haven’t heard from Jay yet (and I don’t know if we will), but I assume we will at least hear something about why he is accusing his friend.
But, based on what I’ve heard so far, I’m definitely not thinking beyond a reasonable doubt guilty, but more like 65% leaning toward guilty.
I’m curious why you’re leaning towards guilty. Jay’s taped interview felt like bullshit to me. Way too casual about being approached about murder and just going along with it.
65% is hardly certain. I wouldn’t have voted to convict based on what we’ve heard so far. That’s why I want to hear more about Jay. If he is on the up and up, I see no reason for him to make up that story, which was fairly unequivocal. If there is some reason not to trust him, I’m more than willing to swing the other way. I assume there will be more on him later on.
The alibi witness girl seemed full of crap to me. Definitely seemed like someone who, as a teenager, tried to get involved in something but later regretted it and wanted nothing to do with it anymore.
I was a little surprised she didn’t press her on why she flip flopped. Her excuse about not wanting a murderer to know where she lived was pretty dumb.
Also, did they confirm that Adnan’s lawyer never spoke to her, or was it that she didn’t call her as a witness?
I am loving this show though. It kinda reminds me of Dateline if they had smarter producers. I kinda wish I could buy them all now and listen. They should have had that option.
I would hope Jay was more convincing on the witness stand than he sounded on the tape. I also wonder if he got off scot-free. It’s infuriating there isn’t more info about the case on the internet. It’s funny how much you take something like that for granted.
I am very intrigued by the story and I’m looking forward to hearing more, particularly on the Jay question. Law & Order wouldn’t have put him on the stand with that weak a story.
I listened to the first ep. It feels like this will be a frustrating tale of justice mucked up. Also, I am not sure if/how I would commit to their podcasts, given my current schedule. I like stumbling into an opportunity to listen to TAL - I can’t stumble into committing to a 12-hour narrative.
WordMan - The fact that it is a podcast makes it easier to commit. You don’t have to fit yourself to their schedule, just downlaod it to your phone and listen while you’re on a train or a plane.
brickbacon - I should have mentioned that part of my interest in the story is that I lived the first 45 years of my life in Baltimore. Leakin Park is a familiar memory from a few visits and frequent news stories about bodies turning up.
Part 3 didn’t really change my opinion much. Mostly focusing on another suspect, who no doubt was up to no good, but I think he was up to no good being drunk and naked in a park rather than strangling a girl.
I listened to episode three on my way to work this morning. As someone who lived in Baltimore for 45 years, albeit on the opposite side of town from Leakin Park, I was surprised to learn that almost everyone the reporter talked to pronounced it Lincoln Park.
The suspect Mr. S is certainly an interesting addition to the mix. The police and prosecutor lost interest in him, but I think we may hear more theories about him later.
I listened to the first three episodes today and loved it - can’t wait till part 4 comes out on Thursday. I’m slightly worried, though, that the producers are going to start to run into dead ends and the story will dry up before they really get to the end of this. Although they’ve been working on the story for a year, my impression was that they’re still researching it as we speak.
At this point, I’m inclined to believe that Adnan did it, or was at least complicit in it. Although the show emphasizes how hard it is to accurately remember what you were doing on a random day six weeks ago, that question seems to me to be very much beside the point. Six weeks was (IIRC) the length of time between when Hae disappeared and when her body was discovered. But Adnan shouldn’t have had to think back over the preceding six weeks: he was contacted by the police the very day of the disappearance. How could he not have solidly known what he was doing that very same day? And for that matter, why wasn’t the day seared into his memory? After all, this is the day his close friend and ex-girlfriend vanishes - surely an upsetting and memorable event, and one that - if he were innocent and had half a brain - would have immediately prompted him to start mentally accounting for all his actions since he last saw Hae. Instead we’re supposed to believe that he just can’t remember? That maybe he went to track practice, or maybe he was at the library, maybe he was with a friend? “Who knows - it was just a regular day!” At the very least that sounds suspicious to me - not the response of a wholly innocent person. But, I’ll be curious to see how things continue to unfold…
I’m totally loving this show, and it’s killing me that I have to wait for the next episode. If they were all released at once I would tear through them in a day.
It’s interesting to read here the mix of opinions on Adnan’s guilt/innocence. Nothing in my gut tells me he did it based on everything I’ve heard, but my gut can be naive. The way he sounds in the phone conversations from prison, the way others speak about him, the lack of a plausible motive… nothing seems to fit with the picture of a murderer.
I’m so glad to have a new podcast to be excited about.
