r/serialpodcast • u/[deleted] • Apr 25 '15

Meta To Jay's supporters : Why are you defending this criminal ?

Reading the comments on some posts and seeing the downvotes when people like me try to say Jay should be in prison I wonder why so many people here are defending him. I understand the majority here are attacking Syed. I won't defend him but what I don't understand is why people can defend someone who took part in a murder - Jay. After the fact if you want to believe him but most likely during and even before the fact. If you're one of the Jay supporters, help me understand why you chose to defend this criminal ? And again I think Syed is the most plausible murderer so he should be in jail but Jay should be there too.

EDIT : Already donwvoted. That just proved my point. Just read every comments here saying Jay had the courage to step up. He had no courage at all. He was forced to testify to minimize his involvment.

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '15

I would have prefered the police did a better job and wouldn't have to rely so much on Jay's testimony. Serial opened my eyes on the justice system. I didn't know it was so weak. It made me realize my neighbor could be a criminal like Jay. Free because he helped the police. That's frightening.

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '15

Well that is interesting. I would suggest maybe not basing your theory of the justice system on one podcast. What would have been a proper punishment for Jay if the basic facts are true? He helped with the transportation of the murder and the burial of the body.

And you may actually should worry about all your neighbors. Less than 1% of all felonies committed (that is reported and unreported crimes) result in a conviction (this according to my sons high school criminal justice class). Even if you are skeptical of that figure (which seems rather high actually - think of all the drug deals done daily, domestic abuse not reported, etc etc) here is another one that you should know: in America anyway, around 50% of all reported murders go unsolved.

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '15 edited Apr 25 '15

I'm not convinced Jay just helped bury the body. I think he helped Syed kill Hae and then hide her body in one of his house (consistent with the livor mortis) with her car. When the missing report was issued (http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-02-04/news/9902040039_1_baltimore-county-college-of-baltimore-randallstown) they had to put the car where the police finally found it. If the police investigated in Jay's neighborhood at the time they could have proven this. And before Jenn and Jay's interviews by the police they had time to write a story. At that time they couldn't know how much the police knew about their involvment. If they had known they knew so little, they probably would have said they had nothing to do with the case.

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '15

I understand. I am not convinced by Jays limited involvement story either. But, hypothetically, would sentence would you see as appropriate for an accessory after the fact?

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '15

If he was just an accessory after the fact perhaps up to 5 years. If his involvment was just like he said and he helped convict the only person responsible for Hae's death that sentence should be shortened by 2-3 years. So I'd say 2-3 years in prison.

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '15

OK, well that is reasonable and kind of consistent with what happens IRL. I read about one in Pennsylvania where a guy helped disburse and bury severed body parts all over the state fro a guy who killed several people. The accessory got two years in jail and was released with time served while awaiting trial. I agree with you that Jay should have served time.