ORLANDO, Fla. _ After two days of jury selection in the trial of Noor Salman, 13 potential jurors have emerged from initial questioning as candidates to decide the fate of Pulse nightclub gunman Omar Mateen's widow.
U.S. District Judge Paul Byron kept seven prospective jurors Friday, of 15 who were questioned in court. The other eight were sent home due to their responses on a range of subjects, including their feelings about the case and their thoughts on guns or terrorism.
The last two jurors of the day were a man who said he grew up in Peru and became a citizen in the early 2000s and another man who, despite the judge's repeated questioning, said his wife's recent health problems would not interfere with his jury service, as long as he was not sequestered.
"He is willing to do what needs to be done. That is a testament to his generation, I think," Byron said. He kept both men in the jury pool.
Byron said he expects to question another 18 potential jurors on Monday. He estimated opening statements would come March 14, but said that date may change depending on how long it takes to interview the rest of the jurors.
Friday's round of questioning underscored a challenge Byron and attorneys in the case will face in finding a jury for Salman: Many people in Central Florida, including some of those called as potential jurors, have personal ties to the shooting that killed 49 people June 12, 2016.
One man during the afternoon session said he saw televised news report that said Salman may have driven her husband to the club the night of the attack. According to court records, Mateen drove himself to Pulse from Fort Pierce in a rented van.
Salman looked at the juror quizzically as he spoke, then began talking to her attorney, gesturing and making a more serious facial expression. That juror was excused _ his niece, he said, lost a friend in the attack, and the experience of comforting her could keep him from being impartial.
"It might influence my decision," the juror said. "It was pretty trying for everyone, families and communities."
While speaking to defense attorney Linda Moreno after the juror left, Salman got excited and gave the lawyer a fist-bump.
The judge and lawyers have also been inquiring about potential jurors' views of Islam and Muslims.
One woman noted several terrorist attacks carried out by extremists since those on Sept. 11, 2001. In a questionnaire that jurors filled out prior to the trial's start, the woman had written, "I believe radical Muslims are responsible for most of the mischief in the world," according to courtroom discussions.
"When I think of Muslims I think of very religious people," she said in court Friday. "They're usually very devout."
When asked by the judge if she could, the woman vowed to set aside her feelings about other attacks.
She was kept in the jury pool.
The juror was one of several questioned Friday whose personal experience with the mass shooting complicated the process of finding a jury to try Salman.
Their answers underscored the wide reach of the attack in Orlando, with four of the seven people questioned Friday saying they had some personal connection. One juror said he was an orthopedic surgery physician's assistant who, along with his co-workers, treated about 24 people injured in the attack.
"I do feel there would be some bias, even if I attempt to separate the two," the juror said.
He was removed from the jury pool.
Other jurors have been dismissed due to more typical concerns. One potential juror, prior to being excused, expressed worry about past cases in which someone convicted was later exonerated.
"Somebody's life is dependent on my decision ... I would be wondering if there was stuff that comes out later," that person said.
During the court's morning session, three potential jurors were retained, while four were sent home.
Another juror excused said his co-workers knew people who died in the club. He said conversations with them made him feel someone should be held responsible for the massacre, which claimed 49 lives in 2016. The man said he would lean toward convicting someone for the mass shooting.
Salman is the only person to face criminal charges in the case.
Another juror interviewed Friday said he used to work with one of the women who died at Pulse. They were lifeguards together at a theme park resort, he said, and spent some time together socially. Byron warned that jurors would see video from inside the club _ and cautioned him that his friend may be in it.
The juror said he could set his feelings aside.
Byron kept him in the jury pool.
Two other men questioned Friday were allowed to stay. One was a certified public accountant who noted that the trial coincides with the height of tax season. "I'm used to working late hours, so I guess I'll be working later hours," he said.
The other man retained by the judge said his daughters went to school with someone who was killed in the massacre at Pulse, though he did not say who it was. He did not know the person killed, he said.
"I believe I could be fair. I didn't know the individual. I didn't know the person," the juror said.
Moreno expressed concern about an answer that juror gave on his written questionnaire, in which he noted he did not "approve" of the religion of Islam. The juror said he meant he does not know any Muslims and hasn't studied the religion.
He said he doesn't approve of religious extremists.
"I think sometimes your honor has to look behind what the answers in the courtroom are," Moreno said after the juror left the courtroom, asking Byron to remove him from the jury pool.
But Byron decided to keep him, saying he trusted what the man said in the courtroom more than his written questionnaire.
On Friday, unlike the trial's first day, a camera in the courtroom was pointed at Salman, allowing reporters following the trial in an overflow area of the courthouse _ reserved for media, Pulse survivors and witnesses _ to observe her.
Her hair pulled back into a pony tail, Salman appeared engaged as Byron began questioning potential jurors in the case, writing on a notepad and leaning forward. Her brows appeared to furrow as Byron explained to a juror the charges she faces.
At one point, when Byron raised the subject of terrorism, she reached across the table for a tissue. When the first juror questioned, a University of Central Florida student and software engineering intern, said he likely couldn't put aside his feelings about the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, both Salman and her attorney began writing.
That juror was sent home.
During a lull between the first and second jurors questioned Friday morning, Salman was seen smiling while interacting with Moreno, who put her arm around Salman.
Byron also asked attorneys in the case if they had seen any protesters outside the courthouse. They hadn't. On Thursday, a solitary demonstrator held a sign advocating for Salman's execution: "'FRY' HER TILL SHE HAS NO 'PULSE,'" it said.
Salman's defense attorney mentioned the protester to Byron, asking him to question jurors about what they saw outside the courthouse and how it affected their perceptions of the case.
Byron spoke with 10 jurors Thursday and kept six of them in the jury pool. He said he expects to pick up the pace today and interview another 14.
Potential jurors are being asked how much they know about the attack on Pulse, which left 49 people dead and dozens of others injured on June 12, 2016, and for their thoughts and feelings on terrorism, guns and last month's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, among other topics.
Salman is charged with obstruction of justice and with aiding and abetting Mateen in his supporting a foreign terror organization, the Islamic State.
Byron said Thursday that he expects testimony in the case to begin in about 10 days, and for the trial to take another three weeks after that.
