Representatives from Muslim Legal Fund of America, a constitutional rights defense fund, expressed serious concerns over what appears to be prosecutorial misconduct by the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the material support and obstruction of justice trial of Noor Salman, wife of Pulse shooter Omar Mateen.
More information, including news video resources.
Key facts:
- Based on location information from cellphone towers, the FBI knew that it was “highly unlikely” that Mateen or Salman drove to scout out the Pulse nightclub before the attack, which contradicts the confession Salman allegedly gave to FBI agents.
- Prosecutors failed to turn over evidence that is favorable to Salman, which it is required by law to do.
- Text messages exchanged between Omar Mateen and Noor Salman during the shooting demonstrates that Salman had no idea where Mateen was or what he was doing.
- Defense witnesses, including a friend of Mateen and two women Mateen had affairs with, testified that Mateen kept secrets from his wife and regularly lied to her.
- Defense attorneys filed for a mistrial when they learned that the FBI withheld the fact that Mateen’s father was an FBI informant.
- False confession expert testified that “lack of sleep, the length of the interview, mental issues and lower IQ scores are risk factors for false confessions.”
- Salman scored an 18 on a suggestibility test (average score is 7.5), meaning that she is much more vulnerable to being led into a false confession.
- Average interrogation is 90 minutes, according to the defense expert witness, and anything over three or four hours is excessive. Noor Salman was interrogated for 11 hours.
The defense rested its case today. The prosecution and defense will give closing arguments tomorrow, after which the case will be handed over to the jury.
Muslim Legal Fund of America is a national nonprofit charity that funds projects to protect and defend constitutional rights in America. Established in 2001, MLFA has defended freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to a fair trial, due process of law and many other civil liberties. Learn more at about MLFA at mlfa.org.
Comments powered by CComment