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Noor Salman, 31, could face life in prison if convicted on
charges she helped husband Omar Mateen carry out surveillance of
possible attack sites and did nothing to stop the 2016 attack
that killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando,
Florida.
Defense lawyers and prosecutors will have almost six hours in
total to make their last pitches to the jury, according to the
trial schedule from U.S. District Judge Paul Byron.
Salman's attorneys took less than two days to wrap up their case
in the federal court in Orlando on Tuesday after the prosecution
needed more than a week to lay out its evidence.
Salman is charged with obstruction of justice and aiding Mateen
in providing material support to the Islamic State militant
group. Mateen had claimed allegiance to a leader of Islamic
State and was killed by police at the gay nightclub.
Prosecutors have argued that Salman initially told investigators
her husband acted without her knowledge, but later said that she
knew he was watching Islamic State recruitment videos, had
bought an assault rifle and had examined three possible sites
for attack.
But defense lawyers have contended Salman was an unassuming
woman who loved children and that FBI investigators coerced her
into confessing. They also say investigators failed to record
their interrogation of Salman, who was at home with the couple's
then-3-year-old son during the attack and unaware of his plans.
Byron on Monday rejected a defense motion to dismiss the charges
or declare a mistrial because the prosecution had failed to
disclose Mateen's father had been an informant for the Federal
Bureau of Investigation before the nightclub attack.
(Writing by Ian Simpson in Washington; editing by Jonathan
Oatis)
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