'Serial' Prosector Stands By Trial Outcome

People involved with the case surrounding Hae Min Lee's murder, featured on the first season of Serial, have since been coming out of their silence to speak about Sarah Koenig's portrayal of the case. Previously, Jay Wilds, the prosecution's only witness in the conviction of Adnan Syed, spoke with The Intercept about what he felt was a character assassination of himself in the 12 episode podcast, saying that Koenig villainized him. On Wednesday, the prosecutor in Adnan's trial, Kevin Urick, gave an interview to The Intercept about the case, saying that the evidence presented at trial was cut and dry and the murder of Hae Min Lee was clearly a domestic violence case.

Urick told The Intercept in the first part of a five-part interview that he had no doubts about the conviction: "The reason is: once you understood the cellphone records — that killed any alibi defense that Syed had. I think when you take that in conjunction with Jay’s testimony, it became a very strong case." He also admonished Koenig for making Lee's family relive the horror and intense grief of Hae's murder. But perhaps his biggest issue with Serial is, as he says, the lack of Koenig's attempts to contact Urick at all.

Urick says that Koenig did not contact him until December 12, the week before the final episode aired. Though Serial producer Julie Snyder maintains that they tried to get in touch with Urick for an interview about nine months before the podcast, Urick says otherwise: "They did not make multiple attempts to reach me. They never showed up at my office."

Again, Urick's statement further muddies and complicates the question of Syed's guilt. To Urick, there is no doubt that Syed was the murderer, continuously noting that the cell phone records proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Syed is guilty. The Intercept notes that if Koenig conceded that Syed was guilty there would have been no material for a podcast. That might be true, but I think it's unfair to Koenig—regardless of Serial being entertainment perhaps at the expense of these Maryland teenagers, I don't think she would so hide the truth just for a podcast.

The interview with Urick is interesting because of his resolution itself to impress that the case was open and shut. You can read the first part at The Intercept; the next four parts will be published throughout the week.

Image: Serialpodcast.org