Jacqueline Susanns groundbreaking first novel Valley of the Dolls which was adapted as a film in 1967 is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
When the book debuted in 1966, it sold four million copies in its first week and 6.8 million copies in the first six months, according to publisher Grove Atlantic. Since then, the book has sold more than 31 million copies and is offered in 30 foreign editions, joining the ranks of To Kill a Mockingbird and Gone With The Windas timeless bestsellers.
On July 4, the publisher will release a limited-edition Valley of the Dolls hardback ($27) and paperback edition ($16)with a forward by Simon Doonan.
OK, its time to sparkle! Test your Valley of the Dolls knowledge and take our quiz below.
This feature originally ran in February 2015. Were revisiting it in anticipation of Blink-182s upcoming album, California.
What is it about 20-somethings? asks the title of a New York Times Magazine article published in 2010. The subtext to that question is another question: Why are people in their 20s finding it so hard to grow up? The answers range from changing social mores to an uncertain job market, but maybe its even simpler than that. Maybe a new generation of so-called millennials is finally starting to understand a line they heard in a song back in 1999: Nobody likes you when youre 23.
If youre a sociologist searching for Ground Zero that time when the 20s shifted from a life stage of emerging adulthood to one of prolonged adolescence an album called Enema of the State isnt the worst place to start. Gleefully irreverent and self-consciously juvenile, that recordwas most peoples introduction to Blink-182, a Southern Californian pop-punk band whose members refused to act their own age. At the prime of their career, Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, and Travis Barker who replaced original drummer Scott Raynor in 1998 were twentysomethings stuck in a strange dream of high school that never quite ended. Its a story thats all too familiar these days and one that most people would even find sort of pathetic. But Blink beat the odds and found a way to make it cool, largely by appealing to a younger generation of music fans who simply didnt know any better. Talk to those fans today, and theyll recall with misty eyes theroller rink they were at when they first heard Whats My Age Again? or the hours they spent plunking outthe opening riff of Dammit on guitar.
The boys of Blink-182 never seemed to care much about their place in music history, their minds preoccupied with botched relationships and brainstorming sexual puns for their next album title. But they found one anyway. Nearly two decades on, many of Blinks biggest fans are stumbling into their own versions of adulthood and realizing the appeal of extended adolescence. Perhaps its fitting that, at the same time, Blink is struggling to move forward and might even be over as a band. Last week, Hoppus and Barker abruptly announced that they were parting ways with DeLonge, and a messy public battle ensued. It justified suspicions that 2011s Neighborhoods was a halfhearted comeback and that the band had truly run its course years ago when they broke up the first time in 2005. Its hard growing up; its even harder to admit it when youre finally there.
But before music history finally turns the page on Blink-182, weve decided to compile the very best songs from the bands 20-plus-year career. They might make you cringe, or they might make you cry, but in any case, theyll take you back to a time when growing up felt more like an option than a rite of passage.
2016, Day 3 Highlights, Novak Djokovic vs Adrian Mannarino
If an "uncertain" Jordan Spieth or any other golfers are looking at tennis before deciding whether to compete at the Olympics, they may well give Rio de Janeiro a miss.
Jason Day and Rory McIlroy are among the golfers to have already withdrawn from the Olympic tournament, citing the fear of contracting the Zika virus.
Many tennis players" enthusiasm for the Olympics appears to have softened, too, although in most cases, that has little or nothing to do with health risks.
"I"ve been trying to reach out to Brazilian friends and acquaintances, [to] get information ... When I get more, I"ll be able to make my final decision."
Novak Djokovic
The changing mood in a more established, albeit relatively-recently-added, Games discipline could be another negative influence on the thinking of golfers who are deliberating whether to travel or not.
It has often been said that golf, which is new to the Games this year, should be guided by tennis on how a sport can prosper inside the Olympic movement.
After all, there are great similarities between tennis and golf -- both are individual sports, with global tours, and four traditional peaks each season in the majors.
The parallels between the sports have been acknowledged by key figures within the Olympic movement; Antony Scanlon, the International Golf Federation"s Olympics head, even told ESPN last February that "for our athletes it will be less of a journey than it has been for tennis".
Australian Bernard Tomic will be playing an ATP event in Mexico during the Olympics.Adam Pretty/Getty Images
But, if you look beyond some of the leading tennis players, there doesn"t appear to be the same commitment to the Olympics that there was four years ago in London, when Andy Murray won the men"s singles gold medal.
It"s true that Murray will be motivated to defend his title, while Roger Federer will want the only big singles prize missing from his collection of titles.
Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, has the opportunity this season of becoming the first man to accomplish the golden slam -- winning the four Grand Slams and the Olympic in the same year.
He is understandably keen to play in Rio, and hasn"t been shy about saying so. He"s officially on the Serbia team, too, but the world No.1 told a media conference at Wimbledon this week that even he is concerned about Zika.
Golfers might believe that the Olympics aren"t worth the hassle for multiple reasons, but the Zika virus is the only excuse that gives them a free pass, Jason Sobel writes.
Rory McIlroy believes the spate of withdrawals from this summer"s Olympics is not embarrassing for golf because players would rather win major championships.
Jason Day will skip the Olympics because of concerns about the Zika virus, costing golf its No. 1 player as it returns from a centurylong absence at the Games.
2 Related
"I"ve been getting more and more information about it," he said. "Last few days I"ve been trying to reach out to as many Brazilian friends and acquaintances that I have, [to] get as much information [as possible].
"When I get more information, I"ll be able to make my final decision. But for now, I"m planning to go."
For some of the other players, even for those who would have had an outside chance of winning a medal, the Olympics simply aren"t a priority.
One of the most engaging storylines this tennis season has been the emergence of Dominic Thiem, who is the newest member of the top 10, and yet the 22-year-old Austrian won"t be in Rio as he doesn"t consider tennis to be a true Olympic sport.
Ernests Gulbis, a former French Open semifinalist, seems to be thinking along similar lines, with the Latvian saying recently that the Olympics looked like "tennis tourism".
He is ineligible after playing insufficient Davis Cup matches, but was unhappy anyway that ranking points wouldn"t be on offer in Rio, as they were in London.
John Isner, of the United States, also won"t play in Rio and has expressed a similar grievance. "The fact that they have no points, to be honest, was a pretty big factor," he said. "Obviously the Olympics is not about the money, but no points I think hindered me a bit."
Jordan Spieth is "uncertain" whether he will play at the Olympics.Rob Carr/Getty Images
The lure of a medal just isn"t enough to get some to Brazil and while no-one is stressing the lack of a financial incentive, that could be a factor.
Australian Bernard Tomic will be playing at an ATP event in Mexico rather than the Games. In a statement, he cited his "extremely busy playing schedule, and now my personal circumstances" for his absence.
Another young Australian, Nick Kyrgios, will be missing from Rio after falling out with the Australian Olympic Committee. While Kyrgios said that playing at the Olympics "had been a dream since I was a kid", he wasn"t making himself available after the committee "chose to publicly and privately disparage" him.
South Africa"s Kevin Anderson and Spain"s Feliciano Lopez also won"t be there. The tennis tournament in Rio has been described in some quarters as "the fifth Grand Slam", but for a number of tennis players, that appears to be anything but the case.
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul Clownin on Snapchat
The New York Knicks have had a big offseason so far and are hoping to make even more moves in the near future. They were able to acquire Derrick Rose from the Chicago Bulls and opened free agency with the news that they expected to sign Joakim Noah to a four-year contract. Now, they are hoping to fill their need at the shooting guard position.
Eric Gordon seems to be likely to sign with the Knicks, although there is another player that the Knicks could end up targeting depending on how things go with his current negotiations.
According to a report from NBA reporter Tommy Dee, the Knicks have an interest in signing Dwyane Wade.
Add Dwyane Wade"s name to the top of the #knicks list should Durant pass on NY, per sources.
Tommy Dee (@ThomasCDee) July 1, 2016
The #Knicks are swinging for the fences, I"m told, with the goal of landing Durant or Wade. They are going for it all.
Tommy Dee (@ThomasCDee) July 1, 2016
The #knicks can blow Wade away with an offer and years, something many wanted them to do last year.
Tommy Dee (@ThomasCDee) July 1, 2016
Needless to say, this would be a huge pickup for the Knicks to say the very least. They would create a big four with Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Rose, and Kristaps Porzingis. Add in the defensive enforcer, and offensive support that Noah would be, and the Knicks could immediately have a serious playoff contender in the Eastern Conference.
[AP Photo/Joel Auerbach]Last season with the Miami Heat, Wade looked to show off a bit of his former self. He seemed rejuvenated and ended up averaging 19.0 points, 4.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. Wade also shot 45.6 percent from the field overall in the regular season and showed off a three-point shooting ability in the postseason at 52.2 percent.
At 34-years-old, Wade is done playing games and will threaten to leave the Heat if they dont give him the deal that he wants.
Pat Riley is far from being done with Wade, however, and there is a good chance that the two sides will work out a deal in the near future. Now that the Heat organization has locked up Hassan Whiteside, there is no reason why the Heat front office wouldnt turn its attention to Wade. Kevin Durant is still a target for the Heat, although he appears likely to re-sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
There will be plenty of other teams interested in signing Wade if he does end up leaving Miami as well. Cleveland could be an option for the star shooting guard, while other teams like the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs could also have an interest in pursuing Wade.
Phil Jackson would need to be extremely aggressive in his pursuit of Wade. He would need to offer a big deal and be able to sell Wade on the opportunity to win a title with Rose, Anthony, and Porzingis. That would be easier said than done, but the draw of playing in New York at Madison Square Garden is still a real thing.
[AP Photo/Alex Brandon]If the Knicks were able to sign Wade, they would immediately leap up to the top-five in the Eastern Conference. The conference as a whole is fairly weak, and the moves that New York has already made have put them back in postseason contention.
While the Knicks can offer Wade a good deal, there is a good chance that the aging star will be searching for a more comfortable situation with a better opportunity to compete for a championship.
New York could make a play for Wade and likely will make an offer, but it doesnt seem too likely that Wade will give the Knicks much consideration. He will be able to choose who he wants to play for, and a franchise that has struggled like the Knicks have in recent years certainly is at a disadvantage.
Do you think that the New York Knicks are a serious contender to sign Dwyane Wade if he leaves the Heat? Would he be the player that makes the Knicks a legitimate title contender? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
July 1 has become an underrated American holiday for baseball fans. Bobby Bonilla Day.
Bobby Bonilla Day is the day every year the New York Mets cut a check for $1.19 million and Bonilla smiles a little wider and walks a little straighter as he cashes it in between whatever leisurely activities 53-year-old retired athletes do these days.
Bonilla will cash one of these checks today and on July 1 every year through 2035. In the final year, Bonilla will be 72 years old and still getting paid handsomely by the Mets.
If you"re unfamiliar with how this all came together, in 2000 the Mets owed Bonilla $5.9 million but decided they didn"t want him on their roster anymore. So they agreed to pay him an 8 percent annual interest rate with the first payment coming on July 1, 2011.
Bonillahit .270 with 95 homers for the Mets over five seasons. Yep, it"s pretty good being Bobby Bonilla.
林書豪 Jeremy Lin"s Offense & Defense Highlights 2016-04-24 Playoffs R1G3 Heat VS Hornets
Evan Fournier
The deal: Five years, $85 million with the Orlando Magic (player option on the fifth year)
The analysis: Fournier was expected to get a ton of interest as a restricted free agent wing this month, all the way up to a possible max contract. But then Orlando managed to not only keep him, but convince him to give the Magic a fairly steep discount by agreeing to a contract about $40 million lower than what the total payout over five years couldve been.
The grade: A
Hard to see this as anything but a win for the Magic. Instead of Fournier going out and getting a much bigger deal on the open market, he instead was willing to take on a contract for the same annual value as Evan Turner despite being a far superior shooter on the wings, something every team is desperate to find these days. Fournier has his issues hes not a good defender and he isnt much of a creator for others but he should make up the value on this deal over the next four years with his scoring ability. Plus, at that price he could easily be moved in a trade.
[NBA free agency guide: The latest updates, rumors and analysis]
Matthew Dellavedova
The deal: Four years, $38 million with the Milwaukee Bucks
The analysis: Dellavedova couldnt find himself a long-term offer last summer, so he took the one-year qualifying offer to stay with Cleveland and make himself a restricted free agent this summer.
Even after being benched for the final few games of the NBA Finals, Dellavedova was able to find a strong deal on the market from the Bucks, as his ability to defend point guards and hit three-pointers (he shot 41 percent from behind the arc) makes him a nice fit next to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is expected to be Milwaukees primary ball-handler.
The grade: B-
Dellavedova isnt anything special, but hes a serviceable backup point guard who fits nicely with what Milwaukee is trying to do. It seems unlikely Cleveland will match at this price, though, and Dellavedova is a better fit for what Milwaukee needs than the player hes replacing, Jerryd Bayless, who received a similar contract from the Philadelphia 76ers.
Chandler Parsons
The deal: Four years, $94 million max contract with the Memphis Grizzlies
The analysis: This is a banner day for the Grizzlies as a franchise. Not only did they finally go out and find the secondary creator and shooter this team has so desperately needed for years, but Memphis also managed to convince a max player to come there and play for the Grizzlies.
Parsons isnt a player who they overpaid to come to Memphis. He was a guy with multiple competitive offers, and chose to be a member of the Grizzlies. Thats a big deal for a small market team like this.
The grade: A-
The only reason this isnt an A is because of the injury concerns that come with Parsons. Hes had multiple knee surgeries the past two years, and if he cant stay on the court this deal could become problematic for Memphis. But on the court hes an ideal fit: a second creator and terrific shooter who can finally give the Grizzlies the extra offensive space theyve needed for years. It also is a strong sign Mike Conley will return another reason to like the deal.
Evan Turner
The deal: Four years, $70 million with the Portland Trail Blazers
The analysis: Portland went into Friday afternoon seeking to try and reunite longtime friends Chandler Parsons and Dwight Howard. But once Parsons decided to take Memphis four-year max offer instead, the Trail Blazers instead turned to Turner, quickly locking up the former No. 2 overall pick to a long-term commitment instead.
Turner played well as a secondary creator for the Celtics, averaging the two highest assist totals of his career, but still posted far below 30 percent shooting numbers from three-point range a common theme on a Boston team starved for space.
The grade: D
Turner carved out a nice role for himself in Boston, but as a decent defender and ball-handler who is also a terrible shooter, he makes himself a difficult fit for teams as a perimeter player. But teams around the NBA were shocked when the terms of this deal came out. Now, Portland which The Vertical says is trying to chase Pau Gasol will either not be able to add any more significant free agents, or will have to renounce one of their three prominent restricted free agents (Allen Crabbe, Maurice Harkless and Meyers Leonard) to sign Gasol or another prominent player.
Jerryd Bayless
The deal: Three years, $27 million with the Philadelphia 76ers
The analysis: The Sixers desperately need ball-handlers. On a team full of big men and, after the draft, pretty well stocked on the wings, too they needed someone who could bring the ball up the court.
Enter Bayless, who agreed to a deal Friday and could wind up being Philadelphias starting point guard. Bayless isnt anything special, but he shot over 43 percent from three-point range last season, and will be signed through his age 30 season.
The grade: C+
Philadelphia is stuck in a bit of a bad spot. The Sixers have to spend over $40 million just to get to the salary floor, and they desperately needed guard help. So signing Bayless to a deal worth about $9 million a year isnt a bad way to go. Philly might have been better off going after someone like Jeremy Lin and trying to overpay him instead. But given the situation the Sixers are in, getting Bayless at reasonable money isnt a terrible way to go.
Al Jefferson
The deal: Three years, $30 million with the Indiana Pacers
The analysis: The Pacers have gone out and made several moves including trading for Jeff Teague and Thaddeus Young to try to play faster and add scoring to their lineup. Going out and adding Jefferson, a big, lumbering center, would seem to run counter to that.
But having Jefferson playing behind Myles Turner, one of last seasons many impressive rookies, and torching second units as a low-post scorer makes a lot of sense assuming thats what Indiana is signing him to do.
The grade: C+
This could come down to a couple factors:
1) What Jeffersons role is. If hes starting in front of or alongside Turner, that would be bad. If hes coming off the bench for 20 minutes per game and being a scoring hub for the second unit, that would be good.
2) What the third year of the deal looks like. If its a team option or partially or non-guaranteed, that would be good. If its fully guaranteed or a player option, that would be bad. For now, well give it a C-plus.
Hassan Whiteside
The deal: Four years, $98 million with the Miami Heat
The analysis: Whitesides remarkable transformation from castoff to max player is officially complete. Hewas going to get a max offer this summer, and within hours of free agency beginning the big manhad two: one from the Heat, and another from the Dallas Mavericks.
After sleeping on it, Whiteside agreedto a four-year deal to stay on South Beach with the team that rescued him from the NBA scrap heap last season.
The grade: B+
Signing Whiteside to this kind of deal certainly comes with some risk. Theres a reason he bounced around the world before eventually finding a home with the Heat, and it had nothing to do with his massive frame or talent. Still, the thought was Whiteside would wind up working out if he stayed with a an organizationlike the Heat, with plenty of infrastructure around him. By agreeing to remain in Miami, hes assured that will happen.
One other thing that brings this grade up a hair: Whiteside, per multiple reports, is willing to be flexible to help bring Kevin Durant to Miami. That could help the Heat quite a bit.
Jeremy Lin
The deal: Three years, $36 million (including player option for the third season)
The analysis: This was one deal that made too much sense not to happen. The Nets were in desperate need of a starting point guard, and Lin was said to be intent on finding a starting job. Combine the fact he can be a marketing sensation for a Nets team in need of attention and Lins longstanding relationship and affection for new Coach Kenny Atkinson, and this had to happen.
The grade: A
Just like the marriage itself, this deal is a great one for both sides. The Nets got a steal getting Lin to come to them at about $12 million per season, given hes arguably the second-best point guard available and they so badly needed a starter. But Lin getting a player option after the second year will allow him to get back into the market at 29 if he so choosesmaking this a good deal on his end, too.
Bradley Beal
The deal: Five years, $128 million
The analysis: This deal was always going to happen. When Beal and the Wizards didnt come to an agreement on a max contract extension last fall, the expectation was theyd get one done once free agency began, as that would net the Wizards an extra several million dollars in salary cap space. So it came as no surprise when, early on the first day of free agency, the two sides hammered out an agreement for a full max contract for the 23-year-old shooting guard.
The grade: B
For the reasons stated above, this deal was always going to happen. The Wizards did well to not give Beal any kind of option on the end of the deal, so presuming hes healthy theyll have him locked up all the way through his mid-20s the ideal time to have a player under contract. Because it comes with some risk, though (Beal has only played 70 or more games once in his four year career) this cant get a top grade, though.
Andre Drummond
The deal: Five years, $128 million (early termination option on the fifth year)
The analysis: Like Beal, this was always going to happen. Drummond, an all-star center and one of the best young big men in the game, is the centerpiece of Detroits rebuilding project under Coach Stan Van Gundy, and has a close relationship with owner Tom Gores. This was just a matter of getting the deal done.
The grade: A
The only thing that could take this down from an A grade, given Drummonds age and stature within the league, is the early termination option. But the Pistons gained about $15 million in space to improve the roster around him by waiting from the fall until now, making that trade off worth it. Now well see how Detroit uses the extra money at its disposal.
Nicolas Batum
The deal: Five years, $120 million with the Charlotte Hornets
The analysis: For the past month, the recurring word about Batums free agency was he was going to eventually agree to a five-year deal to return to the Hornets, who had traded for him a year ago and watched him lead them into the playoffs.
It had seemed Batum might be more interested in surveying the market after agreeing to meet with the Mavericks and phone conversations with a couple of teams Friday morning, including the Washington Wizards. But Batum and the Hornets eventually cameto an agreement on a five-year contract and took the French guard off the market before sunrise.
The grade: A
This deal couldnt have gone better for Charlotte. Everyone knew the Hornets needed to hang onto Batum after they dealt away a former lottery pick in Noah Vonleh to get him from the Portland Trail Blazers last June. But not only did the Hornets hang onto one of the most sought-after free agents on the market, they also convinced him to take about $30 million less than themaximum over the life of the contract. Those savings could help the Hornets keep Marvin Williams and Courtney Lee, their two best free agents theyre likely able to keep. Charlotte would love to keep Jeremy Lin, but hed like a starting job something he cant get with the Hornets. That combination of getting a must-do deal done and saving money at the same time makes this an easy grade.
Jordan Clarkson
The deal: Four years, $50 million with the Los Angeles Lakers
The analysis: Clarkson was one of several restricted free agents who was never expected to leave his current team. And, just a few hours after the start of free agency, the Lakers made sure he stuck around locking up Clarkson to a four-year deal to keep one of their young core pieces in place for years to come.
Clarkson may become a Jamal Crawford-like presence off the bench in Los Angeles as a scoring guard, but hes been a home run of a selection as the No. 46 pick in the 2014 NBA draft. Along with DAngelo Russell, Julius Randle and Brandon Ingram, the No. 2 pick in this years draft, Clarkson is part of what Los Angeles hopes will become an attractive core to free agents next summer and beyond.
The grade: B-
This contract is fine, and right about what Clarkson was supposed to get if he got a back-loaded offer sheet in free agency. If the Lakers had allowed him to receive one of those offer sheets, they wouldve had Clarkson locked in at an artificially low contract this year and next, giving them more salary cap space to spend. But the per-year rate wont be terrible on this deal, and the Lakers wont have to deal with a massive salary cap spike in the back half of the deal now, either.
The deal: Five years, $139 million with the Toronto Raptors
The analysis: Toronto gets its man. DeRozan will now be in position to shatter just about every franchise record after agreeing to return to the team hes spent his entire career with since being the No. 9 pick in the 2009 NBA draft.
DeRozan has his flaws. Hes not a great shooter, and hes not really capable of guarding small forwards. But hes excellent at getting to the foul line, is a good midrange shooter and is a leader of this Raptors team alongside Kyle Lowry. After Toronto put together the best three-year stretch infranchise history, bringing back DeRozan is a sign the Raptors will carry the success theyve had into the next few years.
The grade: B+
Five years for DeRozan isnt ideal, but hes now locked up for his age27-31 seasons basically covering the rest of his prime. And because he gave Toronto a bit of a discount, to the tune of about $13 million over the life of the deal, the Raptors mayfind a way to also bring back their other prominent free agent, Bismack Biyombo. Considering this was expected to be a five-year max, though, the Raptors did well to get him for less.
[Sources: Bradley Beal, Wizards closing in on five-year, $128 million max deal]
Timofey Mozgov
The deal: Four years, $64 million with the Los Angeles Lakers
The analysis: The Lakers wanted a meeting with Kevin Durant, but couldnt get one. The Lakers wanted a meeting with Hassan Whiteside, but couldnt get one. So they wentafter Mozgov, locking him up within an hour of free agency beginning early Friday morning.
Mozgov never got on track last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers after struggling to recover from offseason knee surgery. He spent much of the postseason on the bench as theCavaliers won Clevelandsfirst championship in more than50 years. But instead of his market value taking a hit, he wound up with a similar deal to the one he wouldve likely nabbed if hed been a free agent a year agoafter helping to carryCleveland to within two wins of a title despite missing Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving with injuries.
The grade: C-
The Lakers got their man, and Mozgov will likely wind up being a better deal than, say, the contract Joakim Noah is closing in on with the Knicks for the same number of years and more money despite him being two years older. But even in the inflated cap environment the NBA finds itself in, this feels like an overpay. After mostly striking out the past couple of years in free agency, its understandable why the Lakers would need to overpay to get someone they want. And if Mozgov canregain his form from the 2014-15 season and postseason, this deal will look all right.
More on NBA free agency:
Clippers reportedly want to sell Kevin Durant on Big Four plan
Thunder hopes to sign Al Horford, reuniting him with college coach Billy Donovan
Joakim Noah expected to sign with New York Knicks
LeBron James opts out of Cavs contract, as expected
Yesterday, Adnan Syed, whose conviction and life sentence for the murder of his high-school girlfriend was the focus of the first season of the hit podcast Serial,got the news he had been waiting to hear for over 16 years Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Martin P. Welch, who presided over Syed"s post-conviction relief hearing in February, vacated his convictionand granted him a new trial.
Sidebar "Serial": Adnan Syed Allowed to Present New Evidence
Judge Welch"s 59-page opinion breaks down his decisions on the issues raised by Syed"s defense attorneys, Justin Brown and Chris Nieto, in their appeal. The short story is this: Welch found that Syed"s trial attorney, the late Cristina Gutierrez, didn"t challenge the reliability of some potentially faulty cell-phone tower evidence what the judge called the "foundation" of the state"s case a mistake so egregious that it violated Syed"s right to effective counsel. Judge Welch also agreed that Gutierrez acted unreasonably by failing to contact potential alibi Asia McClain, but said this wasn"t the reason he vacated the conviction, writing that Syed did not prove that calling McClain to the stand would have created a reasonable probability of a different verdict.
Last night, the state"s Attorney released a short statement about Welch"s decision, and indicated that they intend to appeal the ruling, potentially preventing the new trial from taking place. "It is the continued desire of the Attorney General to seek justice in the murder of Hae Min Lee," the office said in a statement. "The state"s responsibility remains to pursue justice, and to defend what it believes is a valid conviction."
Defense attorney Brown has said that he expects the state"s Attorney"s Office to appeal, though he questions why they would want to "draw it out."
"On one hand, they lost, so their instinct is to appeal. But on the other hand, if they feel like they"ve got the evidence, and they feel like they have a strong case, why don"t they just retry it?" Brown told Rolling Stone. "Do they really want to draw it out for another year, year-and-a-half in the appellate courts? What purpose does that serve?"
If the state appeals and Welch"s decision to vacate Syed"s conviction is upheld by the higher court, the state will then have to decide whether to go forward with a retrial, or attempt to negotiate a plea deal.
Regardless of what happens next, Brown said that his team has begun preparing for a retrial. "We have not been resting on our laurels," he said. "We"ve been investigating and looking toward a trial for the last month. We will be 100 percent ready."
In his opening remarks at the post-conviction hearing in February, Deputy District Attorney Thiru Vignarajah maintained that a jury convicted Syed because there was "overwhelming evidence" of guilt. With that in mind, let"s review the evidence the state clearly believes will lead a jury to convict Syed a second time.
The cell phone evidence.
The reliability of the cellphone evidence was first called into question in the aftermath of Serialon an unaffiliated follow-up podcast called Undisclosed, which carefully deconstructed the police investigation into Lee"s murder. Along with Syed family friend and lawyer Rabia Chaudry who brought the case to Koenig"s attention and appeared on the first episode of Serial"Undisclosed" featured the investigative efforts of lawyers Susan Simpson and Colin Miller. It was Simpson who first honed in on a couple of sentences on a fax cover sheet sent by AT&T along with Syed"s subpoenaed "subscriber activity report," from which a selected number of pages had been entered into evidence at trial. Those few sentences were instructions that "incoming calls are not reliable for determining location."
The two calls used to place Syed in Leakin Park at the time when star witness Jay Wilds said they were burying Lee"s body were both incoming calls. The state"s cell tower expert at trial was not aware of these instructions during his testimony; if fact, they were only brought to his attention in 2015, after which he wrote an affidavit for Syed"s defense counsel essentially retracting his trial testimony.
In an interview with The Intercept last year, Kevin Urick, the prosecutor from Syed"s 2000 trial, said that on their own, neither the Wilds" testimony nor the cellphone evidence would have been enough to prove Syed"s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Remember, Wilds never claimed to have seen Syed kill Lee; he merely claimed to have helped Syed bury Lee"s body.
And now, the cell tower evidence which corroborated that story has been determined to be unreliable. If the state wanted to present that exact same evidence again specifically that the incoming calls put Syed in Leakin Park when Wilds says they were burying Lee"s body they will have to go through a separate hearing in hopes of convincing the judge that the evidence is admissible. This,despite multiple experts, including their own expert from the original trial, having determined that it"s not reliable in the manner in which its being used.
The outgoing cell towers pings, on the other hand, are accurate, but they do not link Syed to Lee"s murder unless the state tries to argue an entirely different timeline for the crime, which would require their star witness to change his testimony. Speaking of which
Jay Wilds" testimony.
Jay Wilds a former classmate of Syed"s and an acquaintance with whom he would sometimes smoke weed borrowed Syed"s car and cellphone for a period of time on the day Hae Min Lee disappeared. According to Jay, Syed told him he was planning to kill Lee, and would need Jay to pick him up after the murder was done and then somehow roped him into helping bury the body.
How and when that all that went down, however, has not been consistent across Wilds" multiple police interviews or his testimony at Syed"s two trials (the first was declared a mistrial before the jury began deliberations); in a 2014 interview with The Intercept, Wilds offered yet another narrative with even more inconsistencies, giving the defense ample material with which to impeach his testimony should the state call him as a witness again. Without the cellphone evidence as corroboration, jurors would be left to decide whether they"re willing to take Wilds at his word. The alternative is that Wilds changes his testimony again to support a narrative that can be corroborated by the outgoing calls, but that would not only further call into question his credibility, but the prosecution"s as well, and that"s unlikely to go over well with a judge or a jury.
Welch and former Prosecutor Urick are seemingly in agreement that Wilds" testimony and the cellphone tower evidence "created the nexus" between Syed and Lee"s murder during trial. However, Welch"s opinion has destroyed thatnexus. According to Simpson, the state"s best option doesn"t spell good news for Wilds.
"I think their best option is to go with the theory that Jay [killed Lee] with Adnan," Simpson told Rolling Stone. "To say Jay is also a murderer, Jay may have done the deed himself," that"s what they have to do in order to excuse his lies. Yes, Adnan was involved, and guilty and culpable, but Jay is the one who did the deed which is why he lied." That"s the state"s only way to explain his lies, but that"s gonna be a hard sell."
Syed"s poor memory and failure to provide an alibi.
During Serial,Koenig expressed frustration with Syed"s inability to remember what he was doing throughout the day of Lee"s disappearance. While it"s certainly frustrating for Syed more than anyone that his memories don"t include something that might help find out who killed Lee, to say Syed has no memory of that day is false. Syed didn"t testify at trial, but a summary of one of his police statements was introduced as evidence, and in it, the then-17-year-old is straightforward about what he did on January 13, 1999:
"[Adnan] told the police that he and Hae used to date. He said that on January 13, 1999, a Wednesday, he had class with Hae from 12:50 to 2:15 p.m. Appellant said he went to track practice that afternoon. He did not see Hae the next two days at school, Thursday and Friday, because the school was closed for inclement weather."
Syed gave a second statement on January 26th, and the police notes for this statement do mention that he "doesn"t remember the events that occurred in school that day." However, the police notes were not written until seven months later, on September 14, 1999, and shouldn"t be considered more reliable than the statement introduced at trial.
Syed"s vague memory of what was otherwise a normal school day cannot reasonably be considered evidence of guilt, but it hurt his defense because he was unable to provide an alibi for his whereabouts when the prosecution alleged the murder occurred. Wilds gave multiple inconsistent statements to police, but the state eventually settled on a version that could be corroborated (at the time) by the cellphone evidence, which had Syed killing Lee in a Best Buy parking lot just before 2:36 p.m., which is when Wilds testified that Syed called him to be picked up.
Except Syed does have and has always had an alibi Asia McClain. Syed may not have remembered seeing and speaking to McClain at the Woodlawn Public Library at the time that state contends that he was killing Lee, but McClain does. She was never contacted by Syed"s attorney, even after she sent Syed two letters immediately after his arrest saying she along withher boyfriend and her boyfriend"s friend remembers seeing him that afternoon. While Judge Welch didn"t think thatthat McClain"s testimony alone would have resulted in a different outcome at trial, he did agree that it was unreasonable of Gutierrez not to contact her and, more importantly, acknowledged that McClain"s testimony would have hurt the state"s case.
Should the state retry Syed and attempt, once again, to prove that he killed Lee at approximately 2:30-2:35 on January 13, 1999, they should expect the defense to call McClain to testify. Without the cellphone evidence as corroboration for Wilds" testimony, jurors will then have to decide who they find more credible Wilds or McClain?
Syed had motive to kill because he was possessive during their relationship and angry that Lee had a new boyfriend.
According to U.S. criminal law, motive must be established before guilt can be determined, so it"s worth address In his closing statement at Syed"s post-conviction hearing, Assistant District Attorney Vignarajah claimed that Lee"s diary entries about Syed suggested textbook "intimate partner violence."
However, the state only presented a tiny fraction of Lee"s diary at trial, and it stands to reason they chose those pages that best supported their case against Syed at worst, those entries suggested thatSyed could be "possessive" in a manner that could be considered typical of high school boysand that he was initially sad about their breakup. Prosecutor Vignarajah"s statement that Lee"s diary entries showed signs of intimate partner violence was never supported by expert testimony, nor was there any other evidence or witness testimony to support that claim.
It is true that current and former significant others can reasonably be put at the top of the list of potential suspects in a murder, which means that Lee"s new boyfriend who Seriallisteners will remember as Don, Lee"s coworker at LensCrafters should have been investigated as thoroughly as Syed, which he wasn"t.
There was no physical evidence linking Syed to Lee"s murder, and there are no witnesses who saw them together around the time of Lee"s disappearance or the alleged time of the murder. Everything else the prosecution presented at trial the words "I want to kill" written on the back of a piece of paper in Syed"s notebook; inconsistent claims that Syed asked Lee for a ride after school; the "Nisha" call was circumstantial. Unless the state can figure out how to fix the problems with their star witness"s inconsistent statements, establish reliable corroboration for their timeline and successfully impeach the defense"s alibi witness, they will have a very difficult time convincing a jury of Syed"s guilt. For now, Adnan Syed is once again an innocent man.
