ORLANDO, Fla. — In several documents filed and unsealed Monday in Orlando federal court, new details have come to light in the case against the widow of Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen.
Noor Salman, who is being charged with helping her husband plan and carry out the Pulse attack that left 49 dead and dozens injured, has been in jail since being arrested in California on Jan. 16.
In a document filed under seal on Friday and unsealed Monday, Salman’s attorneys said she had been informed on July 10, that she would no longer receive Social Security payments.
Due to her lack of income, Salman asked the court to approve funding for a computer forensics expert.
As part of the filing, Salman’s attorneys also asked for an 8-week extension for the expert to complete a report on data obtained by law enforcement.
The data includes forensic images of three computers, four cellphones, an Apple iPad Mini, flash drives, 12 computer disks and a 38,000-page PDF file containing the complete contents of Salman’s Facebook account.
The deadline for the expert report is Aug. 1, which isn’t enough time, Salman’s attorneys argued, pointing out that prosecutors had the information for more than seven months.
The defense expert received the data on June 5, and reported back to Salman’s attorneys on June 15, that it would take him about 250 hours to process it all and complete his report.
The Friday filing sought the funds to pay computer forensics expert Joshua Horowitz and the extra time needed for him to complete his analysis.
The court filing did not say how much Horowitz would be paid.
The judge approved the extension Monday and ordered the defense to give status updates every 30 days once the funding for Horowitz's work is approved.
A final report on the computer forensics analysis was ordered to be filed no more than 60 days after the funding is approved.
The time and funds are necessary for Salman’s defense and without them, her attorneys said they would not be able to defend her appropriately.
“Only allowing for (now) less than two weeks for forensic review of the electronic discovery is impossible,” Friday’s filing said.
Cox Media Group
