The Best Defense is a Good Defense

Did anti-Muslim sentiment affect the prosecution? The prosecution argued that Syed's community would help him flee to Pakistan if bail were granted, using stereotypes to make the case that Syed murdered Lee as an honor killing. Defense attorney Cristina Gutierrez argued that someone else did it, and police did not look beyond Syed. His first trial ended in a mistrial, and in the second trial she cast suspicion on Mr. S and Jay as involved in the crime, but she did not present a clear outline of these arguments or scrutinize discrepancies in the call log timeline. Gutierrez discovered the prosecutor had secured an attorney for Jay – arguably a "benefit" worth money – in connection with his pleading guilty as an accessory and agreeing to testify, but the judge did not agree that this tainted Jay's testimony. Koenig does not believe Cristina Gutierrez intentionally bungled his defense, but within a year after Syed's trial, Gutierrez became very ill, her career collapsed, and she was disbarred. Syed has a petition before a higher court which requires a response by January 14, 2015, on the narrow issue of inadequate defense of counsel based on Gutierrez not seeking a plea bargain, which Syed claims he had asked her to do. Because Syed has maintained his innocence, however, and therefore shows no remorse, he is unlikely to be paroled.

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S01E11 - Rumors