Serial Episode 10 Notes and Reflection

Episode 10- The Best Defense Is a Good Defense

Notes

  • Adnan’s trial lawyer- M. Cristina Gutierrez
    • Renowned defense attorney in Maryland
  • Jury selection for Adnan’s trial in 1999
    • Lots of jury members rise from seats when asked by judge if the jury individual or any family member have been victim of crime, served time for crime, or have pending criminal charges
    • Many members of Baltimore either were a victim or know someone close to them who was a victim of a crime, or were convicted themselves
    • Judge calls Baltimore a violent community; looked for prejudice against cops, Muslims, prosecutors, and Koreans
  • Adnan’s parents believe Adnan is innocent, and it has been continuous torture since he was convicted
    • Believes it’s because Adnan was a Muslim child from a Muslim community that he was convicted; due to discrimination and it was easy to pick him
    • Koenig doesn’t believe Adnan’s parents; trial was not driven solely by anti-Muslim anger or hatred/prejudice
  • Hearing for Adnan’s bail status
    • Court house packed with people from Adnan’s mosque in Baltimore
    • First time Adnan’s parents felt the discrimination for being Muslim
    • Prosecutor took same Muslim crowd and wash-cast them as a room full of aiders and embedders, who would help Adnan run away to Pakistan
      • Has limitless resources from entire Muslim community; position of prosecutor that if jail issues bail, he is issuing Adnan a passport
      • Brought up that Adnan had an uncle in Pakistan that could make people disappear
    • Not a pattern of young Pakistani men committing murder after jilted and running of to Pakistan- brought up in court and prosecutor apologizes
  • Prosecutor tells jury that crime wasn’t out of love, but out of pride
    • Honor had been besmirched after Hae had broken up with him, after keeping their relationship a secret
  • 6 months after Adnan’s arrest, woman who runs consulting group wrote a report on Islamic thought and culture for the detectives
    • For Hae to have had another man dishonored both Adnan and his belief structure
    • Acceptable for a Muslim man to control the actions of a woman by eliminating her
      • He has defended his honor, not violated any code
  • Casual prejudice against Muslims found by Koenig in this case
    • One of Adnan’s teachers questioned what Adnan would have been taught about women and women’s rights
    • One teacher thought Adnan’s family/community would come after her after talking to the detectives
  • Jury stated that they didn’t allow religion/stereotypes to define the case or affect their outcome
    • Koenig found that there was some stereotypes in the back of the minds of the jurors
  • Cristina Gutierrez
    • Said that Adnan was an American citizen who was born in the country
    • Knew jury may prone to anti-immigrant or anti-Muslim sentiments
    • Talks about how Adnan was raised, romance for great period of time during opening statements
    • Never contacted Asia McClain- the one mistake that Adnan thought Gutierrez had made in the trial
      • Adnan trusted Gutierrez and was very affectionate of her
    • Died in January 2004
    • Defense theory: someone else did it
    • Wanted to show that when cops zeroed in on Adnan, they had ignored other potential suspects
  • Adnan’s first trial was deemed a mistrial after there was conflict between the judge and Gutierrez, where she got heated after being called a liar by the judge
    • Koenig believes Adnan’s entire life may have changed if it wasn’t for this dispute, as the trial was going well for Adnan
    • Jurors overheard this conflict; motion for mistrial was granted
  • Cristina Gutierrez was very confident for the second trial
    • Original jury was pulled after the mistrial by Gutierrez and the law clerks
      • Jury was interviewed and stated they were headed for an acquittal
  • Second trial after a month
    • Gutierrez’s strategy: link Mr. S to the crime or to Jay, but it didn’t work
    • Mr. S was a hostile witness as he did not want to go on the stand
    • Cristina’s main prey was Jay
      • Tried to pin the crime on Jay, as he acted guilty and the way in which he acted with guilt by concealing evidence
    • Adnan wishes that Gutierrez’s arguments were more clear, as the prosecution had a more linear argument
    • Jay admitted something, but audience couldn’t tell as Gutierrez’s cross examinations went so far into the weeds that it’s hard to hack back to the main trail
    • Gutierrez: detectives arrested Adnan because of what Jay told them, and what Jay told them wasn’t true
      • Jurors believed Jay as they believed he wouldn’t be talking if what he was saying wasn’t the truth
    • Gutierrez didn’t point out with clarity the discrepancies in the cell records that does not coincide with Jay’s statements
  • Jay says on the stand that Mr. Yurick, the prosecutor in the case, helped provide him with a lawyer
    • Gutierrez believes that this is the magic information
    • Prosecutors do not find attorneys for witnesses they are prosecuting
    • Jay got a free lawyer from the state, Gutierrez argues that this is worth money and is being paid by the state for his testimony
      • Violation of rules of discovery; Jay has been a testimony
    • Judge agreed that this arrangement seemed fishy at best, but Jay doesn’t appear to understand that he is getting a benefit; his testimony was changed/affected by this
  • Gutierrez put character witnesses on the stand who had neutral or positive things to say about Adnan
  • Koenig doesn’t believe Gutierrez threw away the case, as she was scrapping on Adnan’s behalf, made strategic decisions, and had many people working on the case
    • Gutierrez went into a deep depression after the case
  • Gutierrez was called brilliant in a non-hyperbolic way; did one of the first DNA cases in Maryland
  • Towards the end of the second trial, Gutierrez bullied Adnan’s family for money
    • Demanded $10,000 cash one time from family
  • Another family, the Whitman’s, said that Gutierrez would eventually be late during their trial; no briefs were given
    • Couldn’t get a hold of Gutierrez and realized things weren’t getting done; was told to not worry about it as this is how Cristina works
  • Cristina couldn’t keep up with her cases as she got sick and had to be hospitalized; tried sneaking in cigarettes in the bathroom and she read over cases in the hospital bed
  • Cristina’s career collapsed a year after Adnan’s trial had ended
    • She had gotten in trouble with the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland
      • Misuse of money for work Cristina had not gotten done
  • Adnan had an initial appeal that was denied as well as a hearing for post-conviction relief that was also denied; Adnan appealed this
    • Adnan’s petition is based on claim of ineffective assistance of counsel- Gutierrez had screwed up
    • Adnan had asked Cristina for a plea deal twice, which she denied

Reflection

After listening to another intriguing episode in the Serial podcast, I was thoroughly entertained and fascinated by the manner in which Koenig explores different aspects of Adnan’s trial itself, namely the ways in which defense attorney Cristina Gutierrez had possible done damage to Adnan’s case as well as the religious and racial component that was innately intertwined with the proceedings. From personal experience, murder cases or trials in general carry more weight and draw more attention when there is a racial component involving either the prosecution or defendant, as racial profiling, stereotypes, and racism all inherently play a role. In Adnan’s case, it was clear that this was a part of his trial, and I think that it is very possible that his heritage and background as a Muslim whose family is from Pakistan was used against him by the jurors that were chosen from Maryland. Stereotyping is a very powerful factor when it comes to perceiving other individuals’ characters and motivations, and as Koenig highlighted when she interviewed multiple jurors for the case, there was casual prejudice and as well as stereotypes in the back of the minds of the individuals that comprised the jury. If Adnan did not have a Muslim heritage, or perhaps if he didn’t have the overwhelmingly open support of the Muslim community during his trial, then I think it possible that his verdict may have had a different outcome; it’s very unfortunate, but sadly this racial bias is a part of the individual psyche and can cause controversy and turmoil when it comes to the judicial system in America.

I was also fascinated by Koenig’s detailing of Adnan’s trial lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez, who seemed to have made certain mistakes in Adnan’s case that may have hurt his innocence in the eyes of the judge as well as the jury. While I do not believe that Gutierrez somehow threw the case and left Adnan helpless and defenseless, I do think that her errors in failing to call Asia McClain as well as her public dispute with the trial judge hurt Adnan’s chances of being acquitted by the jury. Asia was a potential witness who could have cleared Adnan’s name, which is obviously a major lead and one that is worth investigating more into; I side with Adnan in that I am not able to comprehend why she failed to consult with Asia, and believe that if she had there may have been a chance that Adnan could be free today. Furthermore, Koenig’s investigation into Gutierrez’s chaotic downfall was a masterful play by her as a narrator, as she puts the idea in the minds of her audience that Adnan was not properly defended in his trial and could have been proven innocence if he had a more competent trial lawyer. Gutierrez’s run-ins with the families that she defended and her demands for excess money that she clearly did not put into effective use calls into question her credibility as a lawyer as well as her morality as a human being. Clearly, she was becoming very sick and this may have played a major part in her ultimate demise as a public defender, but after listening to the audio that Koenig incorporates of the families she had tried to protect and failed, it’s hard to imagine that Adnan’s case wouldn’t have had a different outcome if another lawyer was the one defending him at trial.

One addition that could serve as an improvement for this particular episode may have been trying to uncover Gutierrez’s personal notes or documents about Adnan’s case, as this would have provided the listening audience with a greater ability to comprehend and understand exactly why Gutierrez made the decisions that she did within this case. Since she has passed and can not be interviewed by Koenig, I believe that her personal notes or files would have been the next best thing in getting to better understand how Gutierrez saw this case and how exactly she planned to prove Adnan innocent. Once again, I thoroughly trust the opinions and findings of Koenig as she expertly portrays her ability to be an effective investigator and detective in Adnan’s case by trying her best to answer unsolved questions and tie up the loose ends that remain. She intelligently keeps leaving her audience with further questions that they want answered, and in doing so accomplishes her goal of having these listeners hungry for more in this Serial saga.