Official Court Transcripts of Adnan Syed’s First and Second Trials in 1999 and 2000
If you want to look up something that was said during one of the trials, such as Hae Min Lee’s mother’s heartbreaking comments at the sentencing hearing, or what Debbie W said (or couldn’t remember) at trial, or even whether the prosecution’s closing arguments did or did not depend on a certain timeline, then you’ve come to the right place. This page has all the trial transcripts from both Adnan’s first, prematurely ended trial in 1999, or the second trial in early 2000 (this verdict was overturned in 2016).
There are files with all the events from each day, but beware, those files are often very large and may take a little time to open or download. We have done best to reduce the size for you, but there are limits because the original quality was fairly poor. If you are searching for something said by (or to) a specific witness said, you could try the smaller files we made for each witness.
Trial 1
December 8 to 15, 1999
Defendant: Adnan Syed
Attorney for the Defendant: Maria Cristina Gutierrez.
Attorneys for the State: Kevin Urick and Kathleen C Murphy
Judge: William Quarles, Associate Judge for Baltimore City Circuit Court
Adnan’s first trial was delayed for a few months, but eventually started on 8th December 1999. He had chosen a jury trial. It ended prematurely when Judge Quarles declared a mistrial.
Date/ full file | Details / links to extract files |
---|---|
Day 1Wed, Dec 8 1999 |
Trial StartsThe trial transcript for this day is not available. |
Day 2Thu, Dec 9 1999 |
Preliminary discussions – p3 Defendant enters courtroom – p7 Voir dire – Jury Selection – p9 Jury sworn in – p130 Judge Quarles’ introduction – p131 Prosecution opening statement – Urick – p133 Defence opening statement – Gutierrez – p138 |
Day 3Fri, Dec 10 1999 |
State’s case beginsYoung Lee – Hae’s brother – p4 |
Day 4Mon, Dec 13 1999 |
Proceedings open – p155 Emmanuel Obot – BPD Mobile Crime Lab tech – p155 Detective Sgt Joseph O’Shea – County PD detective sergeant – p160 Ms Inez Butler-Hendrix – Athletic trainer / teacher at Woodlawn High – p175 Donald C – Hae’s boyfriend in January 1999 – p195 Ms L Woodley – Deputy headteacher at Woodlawn High – p212 S Watts – School nurse at Woodlawn High – p225 Sharon Talmadge – BPD Latent Prints (fingerprints) Lab tech – p250 Krista M – Friend of Adnan and Hae at Woodlawn High – p284 Deborah W (Debbie) – Friend of Adnan and Hae at Woodlawn High – p322 |
Day 5Tue, Dec 14 1999 |
Ms H Schab – Hae’s French teacher at Woodlawn High – p6 Margarita Korell – Medical examiner (performed autopsy) – p21 Melissa Stangroom– MD State Police forensic chemist (DNA and other testing) – p69 Yasar A – Friend of Adnan – p97 Cathy (Kristi V) – Friend of Jenn P – p123 Jay Wilds pt a– p183 |
Day 6Wed, Dec 15 1999 |
Jay Wilds part b – p4 William Rodriguez – Naval forensic anthropologist (disinterment of body) – p229 Dr Rodriguez excused – p250 Mistrial DeclaredMotion for mistrial granted – p 255 |
On the sixth day, Judge Quarles and Gutierrez had a disagreement and, despite the white noise machine, members of audience and crucially the jury overheard (p220). This led to Quarles declaring a mistrial.
“However, I do have a note from Altemate Number 4, ‘In view of that fact that you’ve determined that Ms. Gutierrez is a liar, will she be removed? Will we start over?’
Your motion for mistrial is granted” – Judge Quarles
Trial 2
January 21 to February 25 2000
Defendant: Adnan Syed
Attorney for the Defendant: Maria Cristina Gutierrez.
Attorneys for the State: Kevin Urick and Kathleen C Murphy
Judge: Wanda Heard, Associate Judge for Baltimore City Circuit Court
After the earlier mistrial, Judge Quarles recused himself from sitting for the next trial, and so the case was held before a new judge (Heard) and of course a new jury.
Date/ full file | Detail / Extracts |
---|---|
Day 1Fri, Jan 21 2000 |
Trial StartsPreliminary matters – p2 |
Day 2Mon, Jan 24 2000 |
Preliminary Matters – p2 Roll call – p3 Voir dire resumed – questioning of jury pool members – p21 Jury selection – p253 Jury sworn – p287 Preliminary remarks by Judge Heard – p299 |
Tue, Jan 25 2000 | Judge Heard was not able to be present due to a family funeral. (See page 18-20 of Jan 24 transcript.) |
Wed, Jan 26 2000 | Judge Heard was not able to be present due to a family funeral. (See page 18-20 of Jan 24 transcript.) |
Day 3Thu, Jan 27 2000 |
Defense objection to seating Juror Number 6 – p2 Defense motion to have the jury visit the crime scene (reserved) – p18 Defense motion for sequestration (granted) – p49 Preliminary remarks by the Court – p81 Opening Statement – Prosecution, Urick – p91 Opening Statement – Defense, Gutierrez – p109 State motion for mistrial – p148 State motion in limine re: Polygraph and referring to offenses not impeachable – p153 State’s Case beginsEmmanuel Obot – BPD Mobile Crime Lab tech – p168 |
Day 4Fri, Jan 28 2000 |
Defense motion in limine to instruct jurors not to read any newspapers for the duration of the trial (denied) – p11 Defense motion in limine to restrict the testimony of Hope Schab – p12 Young Lee – Hae’s brother – p16 Grant Graham – Naval forensic trace analysis specialist (disinterment of body) – p81 Ms H Schab – Hae’s French teacher at Woodlawn High – p130 William Rodriguez – Naval forensic anthropologist (disinterment of body) – p158 Nisha T – Adnan’s romantic interest – p184 Krista M – School friend of Adnan and Hae – p206 Aisha P – School friend of Adnan and Hae – p237 |
Day 5Mon, Jan 31 2000 |
Officer Scott Adcock – County PD officer who responded to initial call from Hae’s family on January 13 – p5 Detective Joseph O’Shea – County PD detective sergeant – p23 Romano Thomas – BPD Mobile Crime Lab tech – p48 |
Day 6Tue, Feb 01 2000 |
Romano Thomas – BPD Mobile Crime Lab tech – p4 Sharon Talmadge – BPD Latent Prints (fingerprints) Lab Manager – p14 Donald C – Hae’s boyfriend in Jan 1999 – p69 Salvatore Bianca – BPD Trace Analysis Unit tech – p105 |
Day 7Wed, Feb 02 2000 |
Theresa Long – Maryland State Police forensic chemist (DNA and other testing) – p7 Margarita Korrell – Medical examiner (performed autopsy) – p34 Ms L Woodley – Deputy headteacher at Woodlawn High – p92 |
Day 8
Thu, Feb 03 2000 |
Ms S Watts – School nurse at Woodlawn High – p20 Yaser A – Friend of Adnan – p79 |
Day 9Fri, Feb 04 2000 |
Ms Inez Butler-Hendrix – Athletic trainer / teacher at Woodlawn High – p8
Jay’s testimony beginsJay Wilds (first day)- p115 |
Mon, Feb 07 2000 | Presidents’ Day, National Holiday. Courts not in session |
Day 10Tue, Feb 08 2000 |
Abraham Waranowitz (first day) – AT&T cell phone network engineer – p6 |
Day 11Wed, Feb 09 2000 |
Abe Waranowitz (second day)- AT&T cell phone network engineer – p31 |
Day 12Thu, Feb 10 2000 |
Jay’s testimony resumesJay Wilds testimony begins – p12 |
Day 13Fri, Feb 11 2000 |
Jay Wilds (third day)- p58 |
Day 14Mon, Feb 14 2000 |
Jay Wilds (fourth day)- p38 |
Day 15Tue, Feb 15 2000 |
Jay Wilds (fifth day)- p10 Jennifer P – Friend of Jay W – p181 |
Day 16Wed, Feb 16 2000 |
Jennifer P – Friend of Jay W – p3 Cathy (Kristi V) – Friend of Jenn P – p205 Deborah W (Debbie) – School friend of Hae and Adnan – p297 |
Day 17Thu, Feb 17 2000 |
Deborah W (Debbie) – Friend of Hae and Adnan at Woodlawn High (Murphy) – p5 Detective Gregory MacGillivary – BPD homicide detective Direct examination (Urick) – p152 Cross by Defense – p159 Discussions re hearsay about Mr S – p 188 Cross resumes – p215-330 |
Day 18Fri, Feb 18 2000 |
Detective Gregory MacGillivary – BPD homicide detective Cross examination by Defense – p2 Re-direct by State (Urick) – p174 Re-cross by Defense – p188-201 End of State’s Case – p204 |
Day 19Tue, Feb 22 2000 |
Defense Case beginsDiscussion: Mr S’s indecent exposure conviction – p2 |
Day 20Wed, Feb 23 2000 |
Mr S – Found body in Leakin Park – p3 Coach M Sye – Adnan’s school track coach – p97 Rebecca W (Becky)- School friend of Hae and Adnan – p114 Syed Rahman – Adnan’s father – p249 |
Day 21Thu, Feb 24 2000 |
Syed Rahman – Adnan’s father – p4 Detective William Ritz – BPD homicide detective p21 Andrew Davis – Defense private investigator – p100 Saad Chaudry – Friend of Adnan – p113 Saad P – Friend of Adnan – p161 Maqbool P – Family friend of Adnan and mosque elder – p187 Ms B Stuckey – Adnan’s guidance counsellor at Woodlawn High – p202 End of Defense Case |
Day 22Fri, Feb 25 2000 |
Judge Heard – instructions to the jury – p23 Closing Arguments – Prosecution, Murphy – p47 Closing Arguments – Defense, Gutierrez – p85 Closing Arguments – Prosecution, Urick – p116 Jury Verdict – p132 |
SentencingTue, June 06 2000 |
Sentencing HearingDefense motion for a new trial – p1 |
After the verdict, Gutierrez wouldn’t respond to Adnan or his parents, and they asked Judge Heard for help having her dismissed from the case. After that, a public defender, Charles H Dorsey III, was appointed to represent him at the sentencing hearing on 25 June 2000.
Related Pages:
What happened next? Read the latest news, or follow the development of the legal case on the Appeals page.
The People List is a great way to find out more about someone in particular or to help find the name of someone you’ve partly forgotten.
What’s Missing?
The transcript for December 8, 1999, first day of first trial, is not available, and a small number of other pages are also missing.