ORLANDO, Fla. _ A federal judge Thursday cautioned lawyers for the Pulse shooter's widow for missing a deadline to submit a final report for an expert witness without asking for more time, but decided not to reprimand them.
Noor Salman was in the federal courthouse near downtown Orlando, but did not make any public statements. She is being held in a local jail until her trial, which is set for March 2018.
U.S. District Judge Paul Byron had set an Aug. 1 deadline for both prosecutors and defense attorneys to submit finalized expert witness reports from mental health experts, court records show.
But the expert Salman's attorneys hired needed more information from the prosecutors' expert in order to complete his own report, and that information did not come until after the deadline because it had to be sent through the mail and not electronically.
"But for snail mail, I think we wouldn't be here," said Orlando attorney Mark Horwitz, who represents Salman's attorneys _ Charles Swift, Linda Moreno and Fritz Schellar _ but not Salman herself.
Salman was arrested in January on federal charges of providing material support to a terrorist and tampering with evidence. Her husband, Omar Mateen, was killed in a shootout with police three hours after he opened fire at the gay club south of downtown Orlando, killing 49 people and hurting at least 68 more.
Salman's trial is set for next March in Orlando. Her attorneys have said they plan on using post-traumatic stress disorder as part of their defense.
