ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The wife of the shooter in the Florida nightclub massacre plans to say she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder when she goes on trial next year, according to court documents.
Noor Salman intends to present a defense that shows she suffered a mental condition that has a bearing on the issue of guilt, according to the documents filed Tuesday.
Salman had PTSD “at or before the time of the attack, which the defense also intends to offer,” according to the papers signed by her attorney, Charles Swift.
The documents also suggest that if statements she made to investigators are allowed at trial her attorneys will try to undermine them by saying she was susceptible to suggestion at the time she was questioned.
Salman was charged with obstructing an investigation and aiding and abetting her husband, Omar Mateen. She has pleaded not guilty.
Her trial in federal court in Orlando is set for March.
Mateen opened fire at the Pulse gay nightclub last year in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Forty-nine people were killed and dozens more were injured in the attack during which Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. He was killed in a shootout with police officers after a three-hour standoff.
Salman’s attorney also asked in court documents Thursday that prosecutors provide more details about what they intend to prove and what they believe constitutes obstruction and aiding and abetting.
“Defendant has reviewed the voluminous discovery produced in this case and believes the government will assert Salman’s alleged conduct in withholding knowledge that Mateen would attack the Pulse nightclub constitutes the offense conduct,” Swift wrote. “If this is incorrect or incomplete, the government should be ordered to specify the essential facts it intends to prove.”
