A federal judge has ordered the Pulse nightclub shooter’s widow to stand trial in Orlando after she was charged with providing material support to a terror organization and obstruction of justice.
Noor Salman tried to persuade the judge on Wednesday to hold the trial in another city citing that she believes she would not get a fair trial after her husband, Omar Mateen, killed 49 people and injured at least 68 more when he opened fire inside the Pulse nightclub in the city on June 12, 2016.
In denying her request, U.S. District Judge Paul Byron wrote: ‘The Court finds that the pretrial publicity in this case does not satisfy the prejudicial and inflammatory prong of the analysis, and the volume of coverage does not rise to the level of saturation.’
A federal judge has ordered the Pulse nightclub shooter’s widow, Noor Salman, to stand trial in Orlando after she was charged with providing material support to a terror organization and obstruction of justice. She is pictured above with her husband, Omar Mateen
Mateen, killed 49 people and injured at least 68 more when he opened fire inside the Pulse nightclub in the city on June 12, 2016 (file above)
Back in September, her attorneys said in a filing that ubiquitous media coverage combined with statements from local law enforcement officials created an environment where she would not be able to find an impartial jury, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
The motion cites Orlando Police Chief John Mina’s statements and tweets to the media, including ‘I am glad to see that Omar Mateen’s wife has been charged with aiding her husband in the commission of the brutal attack on the Pulse nightclub.’
The motion also mentions the numerous headlines and news stories that include a New York Post front page that reads ‘She could have saved them all.’
‘To enumerate all the articles relating to Ms. Salman’s investigation, indictment, arrest, and trial proceedings would require pages and pages of exhibits appended to this Motion,’ attorney Charles Swift wrote, in reference to the Orlando Sentinel’s coverage of the deadly attack.
Salman (left) apparently tried to persuade the judge on Wednesday to hold the trial in another city citing that she believes she would not get a fair trial after her husband (right)
In denying her (pictured above with her back facing the camera and right hiding) request, U.S. District Judge Paul Byron wrote: ‘The Court finds that the pretrial publicity in this case does not satisfy the prejudicial…’
In his order, the judge cited the fact that Salman is being tried in the federal Middle District of Florida that includes roughly 2.8million people inside five counties.
Byron also noted that less than one per cent of the population in the area reacted to Mina’s social media posts in regards to the charges and crime.
The judge wrote that her lawyers did not pint to local media coverage in the area that implied she is guilty of the charges.
‘If a smoking gun of adverse pretrial publicity were among the articles written by Orlando Sentinel’s journalists, one would expect Defendant to direct the Court to that material,’ Byron wrote in the order.
The judge did explain the tools he and the attorneys are using to try to safeguard the jury, which include the uncommon step of having potential jurors fill out questionnaires as part of jury selection.
The responses will then be used by attorneys to eliminate from the jury pool. The rest will be called back to the federal courthouse for jury selection.
The woman’s trial is scheduled to begin in March.
Pictured above are the 49 victims from the horrific 2016 shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida