Potential jurors questioned at Noor Salman trial

Seventeen potential jurors were questioned in Noor Salman’s trial Monday, with seven of them staying in the jury pool and eight excused.

U.S. District Judge Paul Byron held off making decisions on two more jurors, who said they have to check with their work or their family to see if they will be able to sit through the three-week trial.

Salman, 31, is charged with aiding and abetting her husband, Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen, and with obstruction of justice.

Some jurors were asked what they think about Muslims and Islam, and whether their views will impact their ability to judge Salman fairly.

One woman who was kept in the pool attended an interfaith class at her church last year because she said she “didn’t understand what was going on in the country.”

She said she found Islam to be nonviolent and learned Muslims and Christians “have a lot in common.”

She was asked about her brother’s work in advocating for gay-rights legislation and a brother-in-law who works for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. She said her brother-in-law doesn’t talk about his work and she could remain objective.

Two potential jurors recalled opposite narratives from news coverage they saw or read after the attack: One remembered hearing that Salman knew nothing about her husband’s plans. The other recalled hearing that she did.

“She didn’t have anything to do with it, I remember that now,” she said, recalling what she heard. “She wasn’t aware of what was going on.”

That juror was kept in the jury pool.

Another juror said she remembered hearing Salman did know about the attack.

“I think I heard possibly that she may have known, but I don’t think I heard any details about that,” the juror said. She was excused from the jury pool after telling Byron her infant grandson is expected to have open-heart surgery in the coming weeks, and that she is one of his main caregivers.

Salman, who has been animated in court, looked to her lawyer with eyebrows raised and nodded when another woman described beliefs that some Muslims are influenced to do bad while others are peaceful.

“Some Muslims are brainwashed to do horrible things” while others are “like me” and never hurt a person, the woman said.

Byron questioned 25 peoplelast week, keeping 13 of them. Jurors who knew people killed or injured but said they could remain impartial were kept in the jury pool.