‘Serial’ case: Adnan Syed released, conviction tossed • Hacker News Board

Re: ‘Serial’ case: Adnan Syed released, conviction tossed

#31

Post by yieldcrv » Mon, Sep 19, 2022, 9:33 PM UTC

indigodaddy wrote: post #19

When I finished the podcast I was not at all convinced of his innocence. For me was 50/50 or even 60/40 against innocence. Just my takeaway/opinion of course.. EDIT However, reading both of the AP News articles on this now, it does serve to sway me more toward his innocence. Crazy that the prosecutors withheld this at that time.. Par for the course unfortunately I guess. Seems as though the SA office is trying to do…

I think the wrong bar is being evaluated, its important to get the correct person off the streets. I was not satisfied - and am still not satisfied - that any of this is occurring. So that exempts Adnan Syed as well and means he should be released.

Re: ‘Serial’ case: Adnan Syed released, conviction tossed

#32

Post by legitster » Mon, Sep 19, 2022, 9:33 PM UTC

I'll be honest and say I found the podcast rather frustrating.

Koenig was clearly an outsider to the legal system, and had the benefit of telling a different, big long narrative. But at the end of it, I don't know if it was any more or less truthful than the first one. It was still built on old memories, circumstantial evidence, and bias (she even admitted she only started the investigation because she found Adnan so charming).

And the interview with Jay after the podcast especially scrambled my thoughts - I found him really compelling too! And there was a lot of stuff the podcast left out without telling you! Over 12 episodes!

So in the end, I honestly don't know about Adnan! I don't know if the case against him was actually weak or if there was just enough of an army of hole pokers who could have poked through anything.

Re: ‘Serial’ case: Adnan Syed released, conviction tossed

#33

Post by hinkley » Mon, Sep 19, 2022, 9:35 PM UTC

advantager wrote: post #30

indigodaddy wrote: post #19

When I finished the podcast I was not at all convinced of his innocence. For me was 50/50 or even 60/40 against innocence. Just my takeaway/opinion of course.. EDIT However, reading both of the AP News articles on this now, it does serve to sway me more toward his innocence. Crazy that the prosecutors withheld this at that time.. Par for the course unfortunately I guess. Seems as though the SA office is trying to do…

I remember feeling similarly. I also don't remember feeling as though he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

> guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

How the American Legal System is supposed to work, not as a way to punish people who 'look guilty'.

Re: ‘Serial’ case: Adnan Syed released, conviction tossed

#34

Post by geuis » Mon, Sep 19, 2022, 9:36 PM UTC

blobbers wrote: post #17

'Serial' was the podcast that launched all podcasts. It was the defining podcast. It isn't that it was hyper monetized or incredibly financially successful; simply it showed that the audience was there. It has over 340 million listens as of 2018 . With this eviction of conviction, I suspect that number will be over a billion. It is fitting that it has come full circle and fulfilled the ultimate purpose of investigati…

> 'Serial' was the podcast that launched all podcasts

Sorry, but this statement is objectively wrong. Podcasts have existed for close to 20 years in the way we understand them today.

Serial may have helped to popularize podcasts, but in no way was original.

Re: ‘Serial’ case: Adnan Syed released, conviction tossed

#35

Post by hardtke » Mon, Sep 19, 2022, 9:38 PM UTC

blobbers wrote: post #17

'Serial' was the podcast that launched all podcasts. It was the defining podcast. It isn't that it was hyper monetized or incredibly financially successful; simply it showed that the audience was there. It has over 340 million listens as of 2018 . With this eviction of conviction, I suspect that number will be over a billion. It is fitting that it has come full circle and fulfilled the ultimate purpose of investigati…

Maybe Serial launched the modern commerically produced crime podcast format, but I'd give a shout out to The History of Rome by Mike Duncan as the "defining podcast." It started quite a bit earlier (2007) and proved that there is a big audience (65 million downloads) for obscure topics covered in depth. Serial spun out of This American Life, so it had some audience to begin with, but THOR is truly "let me put this out there and see if anyone listens." It's also interesting to see how apologetic Mike Duncan was when he introduced monetization through direct to consumer ads, and this is now the standard monetization model.

Re: ‘Serial’ case: Adnan Syed released, conviction tossed

#36

Post by shishy » Mon, Sep 19, 2022, 9:39 PM UTC

legitster wrote: post #32

I'll be honest and say I found the podcast rather frustrating. Koenig was clearly an outsider to the legal system, and had the benefit of telling a different, big long narrative. But at the end of it, I don't know if it was any more or less truthful than the first one. It was still built on old memories, circumstantial evidence, and bias (she even admitted she only started the investigation because she found Adnan so…

> One of the suspects had threatened Lee, saying “he would make her (Ms. Lee) disappear. He would kill her,” according to the filing.

> “Given the stunning lack of reliable evidence implicating Mr. Syed, coupled with increasing evidence pointing to other suspects, this unjust conviction cannot stand,” said Assistant Public Defender Erica Suter, Mr. Syed’s attorney and, Director of the Innocence Project Clinic. “Mr. Syed is grateful that this information has finally seen the light of day and looks forward to his day in court.”

> The suspects were known persons at the time of the original investigation and were not properly ruled out nor disclosed to the defense, prosecutors said.

source: https://apnews.com/article/adnan-syed-conviction-baltimore-p...

I think this is enough to justify letting him get out and they can decide if they want to do another trial. That's a pretty important miss on the prosecutors originally and the other suspects should have been ruled out before focusing all on him.

EDIT: Also, on a personal level and in a normative sense, it's been 20 years and he should be allowed to re-enter society and of all the crazy people we let back, he's probably one of the safer choices for rehabilitation.

Re: ‘Serial’ case: Adnan Syed released, conviction tossed

#37

Post by blamazon » Mon, Sep 19, 2022, 9:39 PM UTC

geuis wrote: post #34

blobbers wrote: post #17

'Serial' was the podcast that launched all podcasts. It was the defining podcast. It isn't that it was hyper monetized or incredibly financially successful; simply it showed that the audience was there. It has over 340 million listens as of 2018 . With this eviction of conviction, I suspect that number will be over a billion. It is fitting that it has come full circle and fulfilled the ultimate purpose of investigati…

> 'Serial' was the podcast that launched all podcasts Sorry, but this statement is objectively wrong. Podcasts have existed for close to 20 years in the way we understand them today. Serial may have helped to popularize podcasts, but in no way was original.

I think that commenter may have not been that literal and meant something more along the lines of "made podcasts more mainstream in an exponential manner." I know plenty of people in my life who weren't podcast people at that time but were constantly talking about it or walking around saying "mail... keemp?" as a joke. (A reference to Serial)

Re: ‘Serial’ case: Adnan Syed released, conviction tossed

#38

Post by indigodaddy » Mon, Sep 19, 2022, 9:40 PM UTC

Wondering if they have those 2 other now uncovered suspects in custody? If not, would they not now skidaddle at the soonest??

Re: ‘Serial’ case: Adnan Syed released, conviction tossed

#39

Post by thomasahle » Mon, Sep 19, 2022, 9:45 PM UTC

blobbers wrote: post #17

'Serial' was the podcast that launched all podcasts. It was the defining podcast. It isn't that it was hyper monetized or incredibly financially successful; simply it showed that the audience was there. It has over 340 million listens as of 2018 . With this eviction of conviction, I suspect that number will be over a billion. It is fitting that it has come full circle and fulfilled the ultimate purpose of investigati…

Back in 2006 I wrote an "Internet Radio Recording" app: https://sourceforge.net/projects/radiorec/ based on the interface of DVRs on TVs at the time.

It's interesting that people thought to put live streamed radio online before just dumping the mp3s.

Re: ‘Serial’ case: Adnan Syed released, conviction tossed

#40

Post by oconnor663 » Mon, Sep 19, 2022, 9:47 PM UTC

indigodaddy wrote: post #19

When I finished the podcast I was not at all convinced of his innocence. For me was 50/50 or even 60/40 against innocence. Just my takeaway/opinion of course.. EDIT However, reading both of the AP News articles on this now, it does serve to sway me more toward his innocence. Crazy that the prosecutors withheld this at that time.. Par for the course unfortunately I guess. Seems as though the SA office is trying to do…

> For me was 50/50 or even 60/40 against innocence.

Totally, but the standard for conviction is "beyond a reasonable doubt". By that standard, a 40% chance of innocence means "not guilty". I don't know whether the law has ever translated "reasonable doubt" into a specific percentage, but I have to imagine it's less than 10%?