ORLANDO, Fla. – The jury foreman in the Noor Salman trial contacted News 6 Friday evening explaining why he and the other jurors rendered a not guilty verdict in the federal case.
The foreman, who is choosing to remain anonymous, wrote in a statement that jurors believed Salman knew her husband, Omar Mateen, was planning a terror attack in Orlando on June 12, 2016.
[READ: Jury finds Noor Salman not guilty on all charges in Pulse attack]
"A verdict of not guilty did NOT mean that we thought Noor Salman was unaware of what Omar Mateen was planning to do. On the contrary we were convinced she did know. She may not have known what day, or what location, but she knew. However, we were not tasked with deciding if she was aware of a potential attack. The charges were aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice," the statement read.
He also wrote that both the prosecutors and the defense attorneys did an excellent job presenting their cases, but he wished that Salman's interview with the FBI -- a key piece of evidence for the government -- had been recorded, because there were multiple inconsistencies between that written statement and the testimony provided in court.
The jury took about 12 hours to deliberate before delivering a verdict of not guilty on both counts Friday morning.
Below is the unedited statement in its entirety:
"As foreperson of the jury in the Noor Salman trial I felt it important that I present a juror’s perspective of the verdicts. I am giving you my perspective, and not speaking for the entire jury. My initial inclination was not to communicate with the news media at all, however once I returned home a watched the news coverage of the reactions to the verdicts I felt compelled to at least clarify several misconceptions.
First, I want to express my deepest sympathy to family and friends of the victims of this senseless tragedy. I understand the desire to hold someone accountable for this heinous act of violence. Omar Mateen is dead. He cannot be punished. It is only logical the world would look next to Noor Salman.
These past few days have been very difficult. We listened carefully to opening arguments, testimonies from both prosecution and defense witnesses, viewed many exhibits and heard closing statements. We received many pages of documentation from the court outlining very specific instructions related to the charges and how we should apply the law. We used these detailed instructions, our courtroom notes, and all evidence presented by both sides in our deliberations.
Having said that, I want to make several things very clear. A verdict of not guilty did NOT mean that we thought Noor Salman was unaware of what Omar Mateen was planning to do. On the contrary we were convinced she did know. She may not have known what day, or what location, but she knew. However, we were not tasked with deciding if she was aware of a potential attack. The charges were aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice. I felt the both the prosecution and the defense did an excellent job presenting their case. I wish that the FBI had recorded their interviews with Ms. Salman as there were several significant inconsistencies with the written summaries of her statements. The bottom line is that, based on the letter of the law, and the detailed instructions provided by the court, we were presented with no option but to return a verdict of not guilty."