Monday, December 21, 2015
More on Hae Possibly Coming From Drama Tryouts on January 13th
Last week, I did a post speculating that Hae might have been coming from Drama tryouts on January 13th when Becky saw her tell Adnan that she couldn't give him a ride because she had "something else" to do. You can find most of the basis for my speculation in that post, including Becky seemingly saying that Hae was involved in Drama in January and Hae herself indicating in her diary that she had helped with Drama in the past. What we do know is that Becky said that she was going to pick up her sister Diane from Drama tryouts when she saw Hae.
In following up on this Drama lead, I reached out to a Woodlawn graduate who was a member of the Drama club back in 1999 to see whether she had any insight into this scenario. Here was her response:
Diane was my best friend in high school, and we both were in drama club for a number of years. Becky was involved in one of the earlier plays we did. Becky/Hae/Adnan's class year of magnet students and Diane/my year were all close as were all the magnet years, as there were a lot of sibling groups across the years. Hae did field hockey, but she stopped by the auditorium where drama club was sometimes. We all supported each other's after school clubs and teams.
So, was Hae coming from Drama tryouts on January 13th? It seems to be a distinct possibility. The person I contacted had no specific recollection of the 13th, but maybe there is someone who was at Drama tryouts on that day who does have such a recollection. And maybe they have that one piece of information we've all been searching for: What were Hae's plans on the afternoon of January 13th?
-CM
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/evidenceprof/2015/12/last-week-i-did-a-post-speculating-that-hae-might-have-been-coming-from-drama-tryouts-when-becky-saw-her-tell-adnan-that-she.html
Comments
Steve: We know that there were tryouts that day, we know that Becky (apparently) said that Hae was involved in Drama in January 1999, and we know that Becky was headed to Drama when she saw Hae heading in the opposite direction to her car. That makes the Drama scenario more likely than other possibilities.
The relevance of the information is that someone at Drama might know of Hae’s plans on the afternoon of the 13th.
Finally, we know that Hae didn’t have to pick up her cousin until about 3:15 P.M. and usually left school at about 3:00 P.M. But Becky says that Hae headed to her car at about 2:20 P.M. after saying that something had come up and she had “something else” to do. Given the timing of Hae’s departure and the seeming unexpectedness of her plans, it seems like the “something else” was not picking up her cousin; it was something to do before she picked up her cousin.
Posted by: Colin | Dec 21, 2015 10:05:54 AM
How could Hae have been in AP Psychology until 2:15, then leaving drama at 2:20? Becky recalled seeing Hae and Adnan going in different directions at 2:20, yet they were all in AP Psych together until 2:15?
Posted by: KC | Dec 21, 2015 10:16:02 AM
You'd think that anyone who knew anything at all would have contacted investigators way back then. Then again, maybe someone did, and for whatever reasons the po-po didn't follow through... Maddening.
Posted by: Chris | Dec 21, 2015 10:39:16 AM
KC: It doesn’t seem that strange to me, especially if we assume that Becky could be off by a few minutes. Class ends at 2:15 P.M. Hae was (possibly) supposed to help out with Drama tryouts but now can’t because something came up. So, she walks over to Drama after the final bell rings at 2:15 P.M., and Becky sees her a few minutes later at 2:20ish as she heads to her car.
Chris: I would love to know the detectives’ response to Becky saying that Hae told Adnan she couldn’t give him a ride because she had “something else” to do. Did they investigate the something else at all? Did they consciously avoid investigating it? What did they think it was?
Posted by: Colin | Dec 21, 2015 3:12:01 PM
In the police notes, Becky Says that Adnan says to Hae "Are you still going to take me to get my car".
You missed the bit that Adnan says to Hae "take me to get my car".
Don't you think that is weird Colin - Why would Adnan need to get his car when Jay has it? Adnan has said all along that Jay was going to come back to give him a ride and Jay had his phone so he could call him anytime.
Posted by: ben | Dec 21, 2015 3:20:32 PM
ben: That’s yet another weird thing with the notes. The statement you reference is in the handwritten notes but not the typed notes. And then, of course, Becky doesn’t even mention Adnan being present in her trial testimony. As for the ride, I think there’s a decent chance that Adnan had given Jay the car to buy drugs, with the ride from Hae being a ride to a place where Jay would meet him. Of course, that’s just one possible explanation. As with so many witnesses, the tough thing with Becky is deciphering what she actually saw and said.
Posted by: Colin | Dec 21, 2015 3:27:32 PM
" As for the ride, I think there’s a decent chance that Adnan had given Jay the car to buy drugs, with the ride from Hae being a ride to a place where Jay would meet him."
How you can seriously speculate about this possibility? Is there any evidence for this? Adnan certainly has never suggested it. Not 15 years ago, not last year when he participated in hours upon hours of interviews. He denies having asked for the ride. We either have to accept him at his word OR figure out why he is lying. While hiding a drug deal may have been a reasonable explanation for a lie when he was 17 years old and free, it is patently absurd when he is in his 30s and serving a life sentence for murder. So, I think we need to drop the charade. You stated on the most recent undisclosed that you think he asked for a ride based on Krista, Becky, and his own statement to Adcock. So, what is a rational explanation for his lying about that now?
Posted by: Jane | Dec 23, 2015 8:08:14 AM
Jane: There seems to be little/no dispute that Jay used Adnan’s car to buy drugs on January 13th. There’s also other evidence that Jay would use Adnan’s car to buy drugs on Wednesdays.
And I could easily see Adnan lying about this then and now. It would look really bad for him to say now that he lied about the ride back in 1999. Of course, it’s also possible that he forgot about the ride request or that the ride merely a ride to track practice, which he didn’t really consider a ride. There are plenty of rational possibilities.
Posted by: Colin | Dec 23, 2015 11:30:54 AM
Did this Woodlawn graduate you spoke to ever give a statement to the police, a PI, etc?
Posted by: Seamus_Duncan | Dec 23, 2015 12:57:24 PM
Seamus: No, but the student did write a bail letter for Adnan.
Posted by: Colin | Dec 23, 2015 1:33:10 PM
Earlier you said you weren't speaking to Tiyyab because he hadn't given an interview to the police or testified. Given that you apparently suspended that rule to talk to this student, will you now be investigating the rumors of Adnan's confession?
Posted by: Seamus_Duncan | Dec 23, 2015 2:03:54 PM
Seamus: As I said, this student already submitted a bail letter, and that letter as well as other information in the files makes clear that the student didn’t have a specific recollection of January 13th. By way of contrast, we have nothing whatsoever from Tiyyab.
Also, there aren’t really rumors of Adnan confessing. There’s just Jay, saying that Adnan confessed to someone, maybe Tiyabb, under circumstances that cannot be true based on Jay’s work schedule and Adnan’s cell phone records. Of course, Jay himself says he’s not 100% sure that Adnan confessed
https://viewfromll2.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/jay-interview-2-3-15-99.pdf (bottom of page 63, top of page 64),
so there really isn’t even a concrete enough accusation that needs to be addressed.
Posted by: Colin | Dec 23, 2015 6:56:24 PM
Didn't Hae tell another girl she was going to see Don? Ya'll need to find that girl. Maybe Hae thought she could squeeze in some face time with boyfriend before going to pick up her cousin or sister at school. Maybe Don made the anonymous tipster call. They never printed Don, which is outrageous. How did Jay know where Hae's car was and that she was strangled?
Posted by: Tresa Sauer | Dec 25, 2015 7:17:12 PM
Why would this be anymore of a distinct possibility than any other place Hae would sometimes "stop by"? Also, what would be the relevance of this information? If she was coming FROM drama tryouts, how would that indicate she was later going TO drama tryouts? And don't we know what Hae had to do? Pick up her cousin? Wasn't it her failure to do this that resulted in her being reported missing?
Posted by: Steve | Dec 21, 2015 9:49:03 AM