Pulse gunman's widow pleads not guilty to 2 federal charges
ORLANDO, Fla. — Widow texts Pulse gunman about cover story, deletes message night of attack, new court filing claims
[ Wife of Pulse shooter present at preparations for attack, but unaware, attorney argues ]
The government also made the following arguments, among several others, about additional potential evidence in Thursday’s motion:
- Prosecutors want to bar testimony from a man named Nemo, who Salman claims was regularly used by her husband as a cover story for several affairs he had over the years. The government says Nemo's testimony would be "double-hearsay" and is irrelevant to the case. Salman's attorneys say Nemo's testimony would show Mateen's long history of successfully lying to his wife and prove that it was reasonable she would have believed his story the night of the attack.
- The government is seeking to bar a report by Dr. John Chamberlain, who conducted a mental evaluation of Salman while she was jailed in California. "The introduction of medical records, particularly ones that contain opinions or diagnoses, without calling the physician as a witness to explain his conclusions and to be subject to cross examination, carries an unjustified risk of confusing the jury," Thursday's motion says.
- Prosecutors want video evidence from the scene of the Pulse attack to be allowed in Salman's trial. Her attorneys argue that the graphic nature of the video would cause the jury to be unfairly biased. The government argues that the video is necessary to "establish Mateen's actions in providing material support to the Islamic State … any case that involves the murder of 49 victims on behalf of the Islamic State and necessitates that the government prove that the offense resulted in death, will necessarily involve proving graphic violence and physical injury," Thursday's motion said.