More than a year and a half after Omar Mateen opened fire at an Orlando nightclub, leaving 49 victims dead and ultimately dying himself in a shootout with police, attorneys delivered their opening statements on the sole person charged in the massacre: Mateen's widow, Noor Salman.
Authorities have charged Salman with aiding and abetting her husband, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State militant group the night of the shooting, and with obstructing the efforts of federal local and federal investigators. If convicted and given the maximum sentence, Salman would spend the rest of her life in prison.
As for the conflicting statements Salman made to authorities which prosecutors say confirm her foreknowledge of Mateen's attack and intent to mislead investigators after it Moreno asserted those responses were given under duress. The FBI did not record its interrogation of Salman, the lawyer noted, arguing that they coerced Salman into saying what agents wanted to hear and saying things that were in many cases "provably false," Moreno said.
Orlando Gunman's Widow On Trial: 'No One Knew. Except Two People' : The Two-Way : NPR