The widow of Pulse gunman Omar Mateen filed a motion Monday asking the court to allow certain evidence to be entered as part of her defense.
This includes information about numerous affairs her husband had and the lies he told while he was involved with other women.
Noor Salman is accused of helping her husband plan and carry out the June 12, 2016, attack at Pulse nightclub that left 49 people dead and dozens injured.
Monday’s motion argues that Mateen would regularly tell Salman he was going out with a friend named Nemo.
But when investigators interviewed Nemo after the attack, he reportedly told them he was acting as a cover story so Mateen could go after other women.
Salman has been accused of coming up with Mateen’s cover story the night of the Pulse attack, but her attorneys argue in the motion that the lie he told that night was one of many he told his wife and family.
“Here, Ms. Salman offers Nemo’s testimony of Mateen’s statements to show Mateen’s opportunity and ability to use the cover story of going to see Nemo without Ms. Salman’s participation or knowing assistance,” the motion says.
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FBI agents interviewed more than 10 women from different online dating and escort sites and found that at least four of them met with Mateen in person, the motion says.
“On each of these occasions, Mateen attempted to initiate a sexual relationship,” the motion says. “On at least one occasion, Mateen succeeded in cultivating a romantic relationship with a woman between June 2015 and March 2016 while married to Ms. Salman.”
The motion also asks the court to allow evidence of domestic violence carried out by Mateen on Salman, medical records pertaining to Salman and text messages between her and Mateen on the morning of the attack.
The motion also seeks to have the court exclude evidence in the case, including spending records in the days leading up to the attack, “purely religious evidence” pertaining to her faith and what she was wearing when officers came to her home the morning of the attack, and video and 911 calls from the attack.
Salman’s attorneys argue that she is not disputing Mateen’s declaration of his support for the Islamic State and that the evidence does nothing to prove the charges against her.
The graphic video and 911 calls would only serve to prejudice a jury against her, Salman’s attorneys argued in the motion.
A response by prosecutors had not been filed with the court as of Monday night.
Cox Media Group
