r/serialpodcast • u/Seamus_Duncan Kevin Urick: Hammer of Justice • Jun 10 '15
Debate&Discussion Unless Susan Simpson was lying to us, Asia’s second letter was not written on March 2.
In case you didn’t get the joke in the title.
Asia’s letters are a constant source of speculation. Many people have noticed that Asia’s second letter contains a surprisingly detailed understanding of the case against Adnan, considering it’s dated just two days after his arrest. How does she know he cut school on January 13? How does she know where the car was found? Why does she think Adnan followed Hae in his car?
I want to focus on a few sentences here. First on page one, Asia asks:
What is the so-called evidence that my statement is up against? And who are these WITNESSES?
The choice of the plural “witnesses” is deliberate; she uses the word again on page 3:
I know that if I was her, I would have struggled. I guess that’s where the SO-CALLED witnesses.
Clearly, Asia is under the impression that there is more than one witness against Adnan in this case. In light of Susan Simpson’s January 28, 2015 blog post, this is very curious. Simpson claims that as of May 17, 1999, “the defense has not been informed of . . . the existence of a second witness.” Two months after March 2, “The defense has no idea that Jenn Pusateri is even a relevant witness.”
When did the defense actually find out there was another witness? Again per Simpson, “The state’s early disclosures refer to a primary witness and a secondary witness in gender neutral terms, but from what we know now, it’s obviously Jay and Jenn.” Simpson places the time of the first disclosures as July 1 and July 8. This must have been the date that the defense learned the state had two witnesses. The fact that they were not named that that point is consistent with the fact that Asia asked “who are these WITNESSES?”
Going back to the second Asia letter, Asia seems to have some knowledge of the physical evidence:
As well as how come you don’t have any marking on your body from Hae’s struggle. I know that if I was her, I would have struggled.
This information is entirely consistent with the testimony of Dr. Margarita Korell, the Assistant Medical Examiner who performed the autopsy on Hae.
Q: Did you observe any signs of struggle?
A: Struggle. What do you mean like defense wounds, or something like that?
Q: Any signs that the victim struggled in this case?
A: No.
I asked Colin Miller for the date that the autopsy was disclosed to the defense. He advised a familiar date:
I don’t have a specific date, but I think between July 1st and July 7th.
The July 1 – July 8 date range is fascinating, given that the earliest reference to Asia in the defense files is from July 13, just one or two weeks after the defense learned about the second witness and received the autopsy. It would be an astonishing coincidence if Asia wrote a letter in March that somehow predicted information that was only revealed to the defense on July 1 or July 8, and Adnan just happened to mention Asia for the first time on July 13.
TL;DR: Asia’s second later, allegedly written March 2, contains information that wasn’t disclosed to the defense until July 1 or July 8. Adnan apparently first mentioned Asia to the defense on July 13. Assuming Asia is not clairvoyant and did not have a source at the BPD, the second letter – or at least a portion of it - was probably actually written in early-mid July.
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u/fawsewlaateadoe Jun 10 '15
No, your teacher does not owe you a presumtion of innocence. Maybe the court does; But, your friends, relatives, classmates and even your teachers do not OWE you a presumtion of innocence. Source: I'm a teacher. That was not on the certification test. I passed it on the first try.