This week, we were asked to look for some answers, to shed
some light on some of the questions we have had in the past. This episode seemed to focus once again on
the inconsistencies of Jay’s testimony.
Koenig ends the podcast with Jay’s conclusion in trial that he “told
some lies,” but “he told the truth.” From an outsider’s perspective this seems
wrong. You can’t tell lies and tell the
truth, but as time passes and we grow further away from events, can’t the lies
and the truth get jumbled?
We discussed
this last class and ended the discussion with “but how are we to judge? How
many of us have really been in a high pressure situation where we have been
questioned by police like Jay was?” Only
in an attempt to “answer some of the questions of the past” as we were asked to
do in these future posts, I’ve decided to share that, in fact, I have been in
this situation. Back in middle school, I
was the lead witness in a sexual harassment case against a teacher at the school. I wasn’t a victim, but I was called into the
precinct at age 13 to be questioned about what I knew, what I noticed, and what
I could remember. Though there were many
victims, the one that ultimately came forward was a teacher’s assistant with me
for this teacher during the same period.
I won’t go into too much detail on this post, but that was 5 years
ago. I tried to retell that story that I
told to police now, and I know for a fact my stories would be different. I’m not lying if I tell the story now, but I
also have a sinking feeling I’m not telling the whole truth. It’s not on purpose, it’s just the weakness
of the human memory. I also have a
sinking feeling that as hard as I tried to be honest and tell the whole truth
to the police back at age 13, that I’m not sure I was able to do that
either. Something about being young and
afraid and in an interrogation room seems to make you very paranoid about if
you’re telling the truth. And I wasn’t a
person of interest, so I can only imagine it was worse for Jay.
My point
is, though I guess I wasn’t able to “answer any questions” absolutely, I am
trying to show that speaking from personal experience, the truth and lies have
a way to intertwine with one another and create doubt, suspicion, and
uncertainty. Another thing that I feel
could have contributed to Jay’s uncertainty that isn’t mentioned in the podcast
is that Koenig mentions him smoking marijuana multiple times during the day
Adnan allegedly killed Hae. Wouldn’t the
drugs impair his judgment? What about his memory of events? Would he really be
able to sharply and keenly remember dates, times, and places if he had been
smoking periodically throughout that entire afternoon? It seems like an interesting point that was
never mentioned or asked about.
So I guess I will try to end this post about answers by asking a question: can we really scrutinize Jay about the small details when he was subject to both the fallible human memory and was under the influence?
I appreciate the fact that you pointed out how it is in fact possible for the truth and lies to become jumbled in the same story. Especially after considering the point you brought up about Jay being under the influence that day, I think we can permit him to make a few errors in his recollection of the day’s events.
ReplyDeleteA few striking details, such as the absence of a public pay phone in the Best Buy parking lot and his inability to remember which parking lot Adnan showed him Hae’s body, continue to raise suspicion about the credibility of Jay as the case’s central witness. These seem to be major points that he should have remembered and I’m still not entirely sure I believe his account of what exactly went on that day. I think there’s probably still some piece of the puzzle that we’re missing in this case, and I’m not sure if Koenig will eventually present it or not.
I think your personal experience with this kind of a situation really helps shed some light on how Jay, a young man barely out of high school, must have been feeling when being questioned by the authorities. I think I sometimes forget as I'm listening that the people involved in this case were the same age as me, if not younger, and I can only imagine how nervous I would be if I was placed in such a stressful situation.