“Noor Salman is not guilty of helping her husband, Omar Mateen, carry out the mass shooting that claimed 49 lives at Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016, a jury decided Friday. The 12-member jury delivered its verdict after deliberating for about 12 hours over three days.
Salman was also acquitted of obstruction of justice. Prosecutors accused her of lying to the FBI agents who investigated her husband’s mass murder, which he carried out in support of a foreign terror group, the Islamic State.
Had she been convicted, Salman, 31, would have faced up to life in prison. Prosecutors sought to prove Salman helped Mateen prepare for the attack, joining him as he scouted possible targets and bought guns and ammunition. They also said Salman concocted a cover story to tell Mateen’s mother after he left their Fort Pierce apartment to commit the attacks.”
Sources who followed the trail state that some of the prosecutorial evidence didn’t hold up under scrutiny. and that he police didn’t provide a convincing admission of guilt. It will also be interesting to hear from jurors how they weighed the information that Mateen’s father was an FBI informant.
Speculation is that the prosecution damaged itself badly by withholding that information.
