Will new video convince Mexican judge to free U.S. mom? NEW: Yanira Maldonado's lawyer says security camera footage is crucial evidence Maldonado is accused of smuggling drugs on a bus U.S. lawmaker: "This case gets stranger by the minute" Nogales, Mexico (CNN) -- In the push to free an American woman from a Mexican prison, a video shown in court Thursday could be key. The security camera footage shows Yanira Maldonado and her husband boarding a bus in Mexico last week. They are carrying a purse, two blankets and two bottles of water. It's an everyday scene that plays out at bus stations around the world. But in this case, defense attorney Francisco Benitez argues that the images are a crucial piece of evidence. Because nothing they're carrying, he argues, could hold the amount of marijuana that Yanira Maldonado is accused of smuggling. Maldonado, a Mormon mother of seven, has been in a Mexican jail for more than a week. She has maintained her innocence, and the case has drawn widespread media coverage and attention from U.S. lawmakers as family members push for her freedom. The revelation of the video comes at a key juncture in the case. A Mexican judge must decide by Friday whether there's enough evidence to charge Maldonado with drug trafficking. If she's not charged, Maldonado must be released, Benitez said. The video footage show in court Thursday suggests that someone else brought the marijuana aboard the bus, the lawyer said. Maldonado's attorneys also presented documents that show that she and her husband, Gary, have no criminal records in the United States, Benitez said. Family members' tearful pleas for her release have drawn widespread media attention to the case and caught the attention of U.S. officials. "I am watching this very, very closely," said Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Arizona. After the hearing tomorrow, if I have concerns, I may end up having to go to Mexico myself and get involved in this thing personally. Salmon said he's spoken about the case with the U.S. ambassador to Mexico and Mexico's ambassador in Washington. "This case gets stranger by the minute," Salmon said, "and I think most Americans as they've been watching it unfold have a lot of concerns." Salmon said witnesses' testimony that Maldonado was only carrying a purse when she got on the bus is among the details that caught his attention. What concerns me more than anything is that I want to make sure justice is met. I want to make sure that she is treated with every courtesy and fairness that we would expect in our own judicial system," he said. State Department officials said consular officials met with Maldonado Wednesday and last Friday, and are in regular contact by phone. CNN's Christine Theodorou, Casey Wian, Elise Labott and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.