Potential jurors in trial for Pulse shooter’s widow polled

Attorneys in the criminal case against the Pulse nightclub shooter’s widow have taken the uncommon step of having potential jurors fill out questionnaires as part of jury selection.

Noor Salman is charged with aiding and abetting a foreign terrorist organization and obstruction of justice. Her husband, Omar Mateen, began shooting in Pulse in the early hours of June 12, 2016, killing 49 people and injuring at least 68 more. Police fatally shot him after a three-hour standoff.

Salman was arrested seven months later. Her trial is scheduled for March.

U.S. District Judge Paul Byron said Friday that 646 prospective jurors have already come into the federal courthouse in downtown Orlando to fill out the questionnaires.

The questions they answered have not been made public, but attorneys will use their responses to eliminate some of them from the jury pool.

The rest will be called back to the courthouse for jury selection.

Another 169 prospective jurors did not come to the courthouse to fill out the paperwork, Byron said. During a hearing Friday, he asked attorneys if they would like him to send those jurors another letter asking them to come in or provide a reason why they cannot.

One of Salman’s attorneys, Linda Moreno, asked for a week for the defense and the state to discuss whether they would want the other possible jurors contacted again. Byron granted that request.

First responders and people older than 70 were exempt from the jury pool, the judge said.

Byron mentioned scheduling a hearing on a legal motion to suppress certain evidence in the case. It’s not clear what the evidence is because the document calling for it to be suppressed is under seal — meaning it is not public.

“I’m being a bit cryptic because I believe we do have members of the media present, and I need to preserve the integrity of the seal,” he said.

Byron tentatively scheduled the hearing for Dec. 21-22.