Every year, in the English II classes, students study this case through the true crime podcast, Serial. They research every detail revolving around the case and trials and analyze whether Adnan Syed is innocent or guilty. When they choose a stance or claim, a murder board is created using evidence from the podcast to support their reasoning.

Therefore, for upperclassmen that had to complete this project, the announcement of his innocence changed their experience relating with the case.

“I’m glad that he eventually got his justice and managed to prove his innocence,” junior Georgina Hayden said. “I still think it’s unfair to him that he was imprisoned for so long.”

From choosing to believe Syed was innocent and having been proven correct after only a year, was a gratifying feeling for most students.

The reasoning behind this release is that he was not given a fair trial due to underlying bias in the jury. Materials were not given to the defense attorneys that should have been, and the emergence of new suspects connected to the crime. It was also revealed that the key statements behind the prosecution of Syed, given by Jay Wilds, were all inaccurate, misleading, or just plain lies, contributing to the misdirection of the case.

There was also the rational that Syed’s former attorney did not investigate an alibi witness that would have been crucial to benefitting his case. They also were aware of other plausible suspects for the murder of Hae Min Lee, yet they did not choose to alert the authorities and kept the information private for 20 years.

In 1999, a young high school girl, Hae Min Lee, is found dead by manual strangulation in Leakin Park, known notorious for criminal activity. She had been missing for weeks before hand, as reported by her parents when she didn’t show up to pick up her little cousin from school. The main suspect was of course, her secret boyfriend at the time, Adnan Syed. His suspicious role was further cemented, when Syed’s friend, Jay, stated that Syed talked about wanting to kill Lee, and he also admitted to helping him bury the body. However, no official and undeniable proof was ever found against Syed, making the case difficult for authorities. The whole case was based on loose theory’s, circumstantial evidence, and unreliable statements from known liars. In the end, the state’s case against Syed won over the jury and he was sentenced to over 30 years in prison on the charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder.

After a grueling 20 long years of injustice to Syed, wrongs will be rewritten, and Hae Min Lee’s truth will finally be released.