The Case Against Adnan Syed

This episode illustrates how a case built on quick and shoddy police work was taken up by an unethical prosecutor, Kevin Urick, and willed into a conviction. It weaves together the storylines of Adnan's present day post-conviction appeal hearing with his original trial, hinging on several key examples of unethical behaviour that helped convict Adnan and are being questioned at his PCR.

This episode centres on the most mysterious figure in Adnan's case: the state's witness, Jay Wilds. His testimony is the only evidence tying Adnan to Hae's murder. First, we pick up at Adnan's arrest, which has left his friends, family, and defence team scrambling to figure out what the state's witness has alleged about Adnan.

The first episode begins in the present day, where we meet Adnan's family and Rabia Chaudry, his fiercest advocate, who first brought Adnan's story to Sarah Koenig and inspired the cultural phenomenon that was the Serial podcast. We learn that since Serial, Adnan has filed a new appeal that could bring him back to court. From there, we go back in time to Baltimore County in 1999, when Hae Min Lee was murdered and Adnan Syed was convicted of the crime. We build to the climax of Adnan's arrest through multiple storylines - Hae's disappearance, Adnan and Hae's high school romance, and Rabia's present day fight to prove his innocence.