ORLANDO, Fla. _ A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request to dismiss an obstruction charge against Noor Salman, the widow of Pulse shooter Omar Mateen, based on the location of the allegations.
Salman is charged with aiding and abetting support of a foreign terrorist organization and obstruction of justice. She is accused of helping scope out places for Mateen to attack and misleading investigators in an interview after the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub.
Mateen killed 49 people and injured more than 68 others in the attack on June 12, 2016. During the shooting, he called 911 operators to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State.
Salman's attorneys argued her obstruction charge should be dismissed because it was charged in the wrong venue _ the U.S. District Court's Middle District of Florida in Orlando.
The attorneys said Salman's alleged "misleading conduct" _ the details of which were not disclosed _ happened during FBI interviews in St. Lucie and Fort Pierce. Both towns are in the U.S. District Court's Southern District of Florida.
U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron, however, noted that though the misleading statements were made in the Southern District, they were "intended to adversely impact FBI agents and federal judges located in the Middle District of Florida," in which the crime occurred.
Citing a 1982 court case finding "it is the impact of the acts, not their location, that controls," the judge found the Orlando court was the correct venue.
Salman is scheduled to stand trial in March.
