"The Case Against Adnan Syed" has started, and here a few items to bear in mind, if you're not yet fully obsessed:
*A great deal hinges on cell-phone data. One side argues that information from cell-phone towers is reliable; the other side argues the opposite. The pro-Adnan side is very excited to suggest that you can't trust the towers, but it's important to note that the prosecution has never backed down from its "we-trust-the-towers" stance.
*The HBO show may have crippled itself. Vox argues--intelligently--that if you really want to make someone look innocent, then you must first start with a serious examination of the counterarguments. This wins you credibility. If you *begin* by saying, Look, we know he had a history of being possessive and controlling, and he once scribbled something about wanting "to kill," and his girlfriend once asked a teacher to lie for her because she was so afraid of Adnan....If you *acknowledge* all of these unpleasant things and discuss them *before* getting to your own views on the matter, then you look fearless and worthy of trust.
The HBO show absolutely did not take this approach. Which could become a problem.
*A great deal hinges, also, on Don. Why was this guy in his twenties dating a high-school student? Why didn't he return police calls before 1:30 am on the morning after Hae went missing? If Hae told a friend she was going to meet Don--then disappeared--why didn't Don think this was odd (well before 1:30 am)? Did the meeting between Don and Hae really take place?
And why was Don hitting on Hae's friend Debbie--another high-school student--very soon after Hae's disappearance?
*Hae Min Lee's family resents all the attention now given to the case. I understand that. But if someone is behind bars for unjust reasons, then isn't more attention necessary? Who says that one side *really knows* what happened? You don't get to claim that here (at least not yet)--even when you are a person in a great deal of (inconceivable) pain.
*The story is (maybe) actually done. Just as HBO was debuting its new show, a court was throwing out Adnan's appeal. He had made it very far. It looked like he would get a new day in front of a jury. But it seems that new day won't happen. The judicial system is weird. There often seem to be loopholes I don't know about and don't understand. So Adnan's side is saying, We will continue to fight. And maybe there's truth to that. Anyway: My main reaction? Michael Peterson *did* get a new day in court, and that guy seems guilty as sin to me. So: You're telling me that Adnan Syed seems *much, much* more obviously guilty than Michael Peterson? I'm curious to see if we'll ever learn why.
*A great deal hinges on cell-phone data. One side argues that information from cell-phone towers is reliable; the other side argues the opposite. The pro-Adnan side is very excited to suggest that you can't trust the towers, but it's important to note that the prosecution has never backed down from its "we-trust-the-towers" stance.
*The HBO show may have crippled itself. Vox argues--intelligently--that if you really want to make someone look innocent, then you must first start with a serious examination of the counterarguments. This wins you credibility. If you *begin* by saying, Look, we know he had a history of being possessive and controlling, and he once scribbled something about wanting "to kill," and his girlfriend once asked a teacher to lie for her because she was so afraid of Adnan....If you *acknowledge* all of these unpleasant things and discuss them *before* getting to your own views on the matter, then you look fearless and worthy of trust.
The HBO show absolutely did not take this approach. Which could become a problem.
*A great deal hinges, also, on Don. Why was this guy in his twenties dating a high-school student? Why didn't he return police calls before 1:30 am on the morning after Hae went missing? If Hae told a friend she was going to meet Don--then disappeared--why didn't Don think this was odd (well before 1:30 am)? Did the meeting between Don and Hae really take place?
And why was Don hitting on Hae's friend Debbie--another high-school student--very soon after Hae's disappearance?
*Hae Min Lee's family resents all the attention now given to the case. I understand that. But if someone is behind bars for unjust reasons, then isn't more attention necessary? Who says that one side *really knows* what happened? You don't get to claim that here (at least not yet)--even when you are a person in a great deal of (inconceivable) pain.
*The story is (maybe) actually done. Just as HBO was debuting its new show, a court was throwing out Adnan's appeal. He had made it very far. It looked like he would get a new day in front of a jury. But it seems that new day won't happen. The judicial system is weird. There often seem to be loopholes I don't know about and don't understand. So Adnan's side is saying, We will continue to fight. And maybe there's truth to that. Anyway: My main reaction? Michael Peterson *did* get a new day in court, and that guy seems guilty as sin to me. So: You're telling me that Adnan Syed seems *much, much* more obviously guilty than Michael Peterson? I'm curious to see if we'll ever learn why.
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