A federal judge in Orlando on Thursday stayed a California judge’s decision to grant bail to the wife of Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen.
The stay granted by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron means that Noor Salman, 30, will not be freed on $500,000 bail on Friday as planned. The ruling sets up a schedule for briefings to argue the matter. Prosecutors sought the stay and a review of the California proceedings with the Florida court, which has original jurisdiction in the case.
Salman is charged with aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors allege she knew Mateen planned to carry out the early June 12 attack on the gay nightclub that left 49 people dead. Mateen was killed by police after an hours-long standoff.
Related: Wife of Orlando Shooter Knew About Attack, Prosecutors Say
On Wednesday California U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu said Salman could be released on $500,000 bail.
Ryu found the weight of the evidence by the government "debatable" and "vulnerable" to fact. Ryu said the bulk of the government's case rests on alleged admissions by Salman, who was interrogated for 16 hours without counsel.
Salman’s attorneys have said she did not know about the attack, and said she was abused by Mateen.
Salman moved to California to be closer to family after the attack. The decision Wednesday to grant bail ordered that Salman stay at her uncle’s house except for court appearances, meetings with her attorneys and medical appointments, and she would have been required to wear a GPS device.
Prosecutors allege in court documents that Salman told law enforcement that Mateen watched ISIS videos over the last two years, that she was with Mateen when he scouted the nightclub and other locations, and that when Mateen left on June 11 he had a gun and a backpack full of ammunition and said "this is the one day." Prosecutors argue that shows she had advance knowledge of the attack.
If convicted of the top count of aiding and abetting the attempted provision and provision of material support for a foreign terrorist organization, Salman faces up to life in prison, prosecutors said.
