This episode felt much like two girlfriends chatting over coffee, one new to a field and frustrated by her findings, wanting to know someone else is having similar experiences. Koenig repeatedly asks Enright "Do you ever have that feeling where..." or "Do you ever have a case..." questions, showcasing her frustration with the case and for the first time, in my opinion, her annoyance seems genuine. In fact, much of the episode seems very natural, in part because half the episode is just a conversation.
I was curious about the Innocence Project's investigation of Adnan's case, so I did some research. It turns out Enright's team did a podcast of their own! Here is the link (there are spoilers): http://www.law.virginia.edu/lawweb/news.nsf/pp/podcastfrontpage . If you're interested in listening, it's the podcast from 12.22.2014, titled "UVA Law Project Innocence on What's Next for 'Serial' Investigation."
In their podcast, Enright and her team express surprise over what Koenig focuses on in every episode (details involve spoilers, so I will refrain). Koenig points out the lack of physical evidence, yet she barely touches forensics at all in the podcast, whereas Enright and her team are doing what is done at the beginning of each investigation: testing everything from the crime scene.
Interestingly, the team mentions a few things that aren't at all mentioned in this episode, though they were relevant. Apparently, Koenig told them about a strangulation the year prior to Hae's murder and told them that anti-Muslim sentiment was very strong at the time of the trial. I'm curious as to why these things are never mentioned in the podcast itself. They seem relevant to Enright, so why wouldn't they be relevant to us? Does this mean Koenig is hiding information she deems irrelevant that may very well be the key? And if so, is it to up the entertainment value or just because she's not a professional investigator of any kind?
Lastly, Enright mentioned that the case itself, compared to other cases they get at Innocence Project, is not that unique. What is different, though, is that Adnan's defense attorney made a serious effort. Enright says most defense attorneys are "asleep at the wheel" but Christina Gutierrez did a significant amount of work in the case, though she did miss some important things. She said she doubted Gutierrez could be called "ineffective counsel" because, if anything, she overdid her argument, she "battled too hard where she didn't need to" and lost the battles because of it. For me, this begs the question, how did Adnan get an appeal for ineffective counsel?
I definitely agree that the conversational tone and aspect of this episode were very appealing. I've actually come to the realization (largely confirmed by this episode) that I am actually quite annoyed by Koenig's style of analysis... While it worked very well in the introductory episodes her way of guiding the listener through the story still feels very much like an introduction or a rambling that only scratches the surface even though we are 7 weeks in. Hence, I really appreciated the opportunity to hear from someone who not only was much more direct than Koenig but also appeared to have more credibility given her law background and career.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated the decision to include the Innocence Project and talk to Enright is as one of the biggest things I have been wondering throughout the entire podcast is exactly WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EVIDENCE AND FORENSICS? As someone who frequently watches CSI and other crime shows I'm used to cases centering around physical (specifically DNA) evidence hence, I'm continually frustrated by the lack of it in the Syed case. I personally also found it really interesting that Sarah chooses not to investigate the forensics or attempt to resubmit anything for DNA analysis under the defense that she is just reporting not exonerating. However in my mind the point of reporting on this case is to reveal and present as much of the argument as possible and I feel very strongly that the physical evidence is critical in case construction and should be treated as this!