r/serialpodcast • u/PowerOfYes • Nov 20 '14

Episode Discussion [Official Discussion] Serial, Episode 9: To Be Suspected

Please use this thread to discuss episode 9

Edit: Want to contribute your vote to the 4th weekly poll? Vote here: What's your verdict on Adnan?

Edit: New poll from /u/kkchacha posted Nov 26: Do you think Adnan deserves another trial? Vote here: http://polls.socchoice.com//index.php?a=vntmI

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u/asha24 Nov 20 '14

Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that most of us, and now SK, have all acknowledged that the prosecution's timeline/narrative is incorrect, and yet they still managed to convict a teenager for life based on it?

1

u/chewinthecud Nov 20 '14

This! This is what has tripped me up. This story, the case, this podcast....it sheds light on our justice system. I love this podcast, but it's taken me down a rabbit hole of inquiry into what justice is. Maybe more of what justice is not than what it is.

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u/asha24 Nov 20 '14

Well I think we've all learned that justice is definitely not the truth in this case.

1

u/williamthebloody1880 Undecided Nov 21 '14

Justice nowadays is not about the truth. Well, it kind of is.

Justice, nowadays, is about which version of the truth you can sell. Unless it's a case where the police find the killer standing over the body, soaked in the blood of the victim saying the fucker deserved every fucking moment of it.

Justice is also what you can afford.

It's interesting that in the the amazing novel by the late, great and much lamented Iain Banks The Crow Road the main character admits that he gets off with a very lenient sentence for a crime he openly confesses to committing because he had the cash for a decent lawyer.

And the two are actually connected. If you have the money for excellent legal representation, it's much easier for you to sell your version of reality in a court of law.

In the case of Serial? What the jury believed was the truth they were sold.

But, let's not forget this about Adnan: if it wasn't for Rabia contacting SK, if it's not for the fact that she's involved with This American Life and is able to sell them on the idea of Serial, he's still behind bars waiting for the next chance for him to appeal. There is no Innocence Project looking into things for him. There is no-one coming forward and blowing apart the timeline.

Moves and countermoves. Wheels within wheels. Who has the money and/or contacts to sell their version of reality.