Pulse gunman widow sobs with joy after acquittal

The jury appeared to believe the defense portrayal of Salman as a battered spouse kept in the dark, said David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor and now a partner at Coral Gables, Florida-based Hinshaw & Culbertson.

In contrast, investigators could not find a single social media post or internet search on Salman’s phone to suggest she had any interest in extremism. Her husband, Omar Mateen, died during a shootout with police after he had entered the club and killed 49 people and injured 58.

Who was the Orlando club gunman? She had faced a sentence of up to life in prison.

Her attorneys also argued she was a victim of a “tragic marriage” to Mateen, with no prior knowledge of the attack. In a 9-1-1 call shortly after the attack began, he swore allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He was killed that night in a police shootout following a three-hour standoff.

Salman’s attorney took the jury through the hours of her life before the attack.

Salman’s family said that Mateen’s widow was his “first victim” because of all of the domestic abuse. “Her only sin is she married a monster”, Moreno said.

Salman was home with the couple’s then 3-year-old son at the time of the rampage on June 12, 2016.

“Justice was done”, Salman’s attorney Charles Swift said upon leaving the courtroom, according to CBS affiliate Channel 6. He said he hopes to hire a therapist for his niece, but added: “I don’t know how she’s going to make up for the last two years”. Ms Salman’s immediate whereabouts were unknown.

The defense team described the powerful feelings that were felt when the verdict was announced, with Salman was calm but the lawyers themselves were overwhelmed with emotions. Prosecutors accused her of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who investigated her husband’s mass murder, which he carried out in support of a foreign terror group, the Islamic State.

“The FBI needs to start recording their statements”.

“I’m glad they’re asking questions as opposed to not, right?”

“Now”, he said, “I came here to tell you: ‘I told you so'”.

Enriquez testified about the moment he said he realized Salman was involved in her husband’s plot. Instead, he transcribed her words – at her request, he said, because she was too nervous.

The verdict reverberated through Orlando and legal circles beyond.

Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said in a statement that she understood that the verdict will be a disappointment to some. “Nothing can erase the pain we all feel about the senseless and brutal murders of 49 of our neighbors, friends, family members and loved ones”, Chief John Mina of the Orlando Police Department said in a statement following the verdict.