Last week, a new hearing was scheduled for Serial’s Adnan Syed. Proceedings have begun in Baltimore and Sarah Koenig, who got us all so worked up about this story in the first place, was thankfully in attendance. She shared the big takeaways from day 3 with producer Dana Chivvis over the phone in a mini Serial update episode. If you missed Day 1 or 2, don't worry; I got you covered. The Baltimore Sun’s Justin Fenton also reported on the day's events. Here's what they had to say:
- Dave Irwin, a longtime Baltimore criminal defense attorney, testified that the fact that Adnan's legal team did not call on potential alibi Asia McClain "changed the ballgame's result." He went on to call McClain "powerfully credible" and said "it would've made an incredible difference in the outcome of the case."
- Irwin also said that calling Asia as an alibi was the "minimum" of what Adnan's defense team could have done for him and that there was no excuse for failing to do so.
- Another cell phone expert disagreed with Day 2's expert and said that the original cell tower testimony was fine, despite the disclaimer that warned against using incoming calls as evidence because of their unreliability.
- Sean Gordon, a defense investigator, took the stand to testify that he contacted 41 of 83 people who were on a list of potential alibis created by the initial defense team (Asia wasn't even on this list). Gordon said that only four of those he contacted said they had been contacted by the defense back in 1999 and that none were asked about being alibis.
- The defense also called Michelle Hamiel, a woman who worked at the library where Asia said she saw Adnan on the day of the murder. Hamiel testified that security camera footage of the day in question had been taped over by the time of Adnan's arrest.
- Hamiel backed up McClain's claim that she had called the library to inquire about the security cameras. (The prosecutor has said that the library didn't have cameras.)
- It was noted that McClain's desire for the tapes to exist made her claim more believable. Also, the fact that she wasn't particularly good friends with Adnan or Hae would seem to make her unbiased.
Listen to the Serial update:
And read Justin Fenton's full report:
