ORLANDO, Fla. – The Latest on the trial of a woman accused of helping her husband plan a mass shooting at a Florida nightclub (all times local):
5:20 p.m.
Jurors in the trial of a woman accused of helping her husband plan an attack on an Orlando nightclub have stopped deliberating and will return in Thursday morning.
Wednesday was the first day of jury deliberations in the trial of Noor Salman. She was married to Omar Mateen, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June 2016. Police killed him after the attack.
Salman is charged with obstruction of justice and providing material support to a terrorist organization.
Jurors asked the court three questions in their first few hours of deliberation.
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4:40 p.m.
Jurors are examining a statement the widow of the Pulse nightclub shooter made to FBI agents in the hours after her husband killed 49 people in 2016.
Jurors started deliberating in the trial of Noor Salman earlier Wednesday. She is charged with obstruction and providing material support to a terrorist organization. She faces up to life in prison if convicted of all charges.
After the jury deliberated for a few hours, they asked the judge if they could look at the statement Salman made to the FBI. The statement suggests Salman knew of an attack and did nothing to stop it. The judge printed out copies of it to be given to the panel.
Before Salman's trial, her attorneys had sought to prevent the statement from being presented as evidence. They have argued at trial that it was coerced.
The jurors also asked a question about an index of evidence and the wording on one of the charges Salman faces.
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2 p.m.
Jurors have started to deliberate in the trial of a woman accused of helping her husband plan a deadly nightclub attack.
Federal Judge Paul Bryan released the jurors at 1:42 p.m. Wednesday to begin their discussions after 11 days of testimony.
Noor Salman is charged with obstruction and providing material support to a terrorist organization.
The 31-year-old mother is accused of helping her husband, Omar Mateen, plan his attack on the Pulse Nightclub in June of 2016. She is also charged with obstruction.
Mateen killed 49 people and police killed him.
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1:15 p.m.
Defense attorneys for the woman accused of helping her husband plan a deadly nightclub attack are telling a jury that she had no idea what her husband had planned that night in June 2016.
Attorneys for Noor Salman told jurors on Wednesday that she couldn't have known about the attack because her husband, Omar Mateen, didn't even know he was going to attack the Pulse nightclub.
Salman is charged with obstruction and providing material support to a terrorist organization and faces up to life in prison if convicted.
The defense told the jury that there is reasonable doubt that the 31-year-old mother helped her husband and they should acquit her.
Jury deliberations are expected to begin later Wednesday.
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11:45 a.m.
Prosecutors say the Orlando nightclub shooter intended to attack Disney World's shopping and entertainment complex by hiding a gun in a stroller but became spooked by police and chose the gay club as his target.
Prosecutors revealed the new information during closing arguments Wednesday in the trial of the gunman's widow, Noor Salman. She is charged with obstruction of justice and providing material support to a terrorist organization.
Prosecutors say she mislead investigators when they spoke to her in the hours after the attack. They say she knew Omar Mateen had guns and they both had visited Disney World in the days before the attack. Prosecutors also say lied about his internet use, his radicalization and the number of guns he had.
The defense is expected to begin closings arguments later Wednesday.
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11 a.m.
Closing arguments are underway in the trial of a woman accused of helping her husband attack the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Sweeney on Wednesday told the jury that Noor Salman "knowingly engaged in misleading conduct" when she spoke to the FBI in the hours after the attack, and helped her husband Omar Mateen plan the attack as well. Mateen killed 49 people in 2016.
Salman is charged with obstruction and providing material support to a terrorist organization.
Sweeney says Salman didn't know that Mateen was going to the Pulse nightclub. She thought he was going to Disney. The government alleges that Salman knew Mateen had guns and she also instructed him to lie about his whereabouts that night to his mother.
The defense is expected to begin closings arguments later Wednesday.
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3:05 a.m.
Closing statements are expected to begin in the trial of a woman accused of helping her husband plan his June 2016 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Florida.
Government prosecutors, then defense attorneys, will give closing statements starting Wednesday morning in the federal trial of Noor Salman, the 31-year-old mother accused of aiding her husband in the June 2016 Pulse nightclub attack.
Prosecutors have said Salman knew Omar Mateen was buying ammunition, helped him spend money before the attack and knew about his plan when he left home the night he killed 49 people in 2016.
Defense attorneys describe Salman as a simple woman with a low IQ who was abused by her husband, and who didn't know of his plans because he concealed much of his life from her.
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