Wednesday, May 15th:
*Motions Hearing for both (@ 9am ET) – FL –
Jared Galen Bridegan (33), father of 4 ambushed & killed (shot 4 times), his 2-year-old daughter was just feet away in the back seat, Jacksonville Beach, Feb. 16, 2022. –
*Shanna Lee Gardner-Fernandez (36/now 37) indicted & arrested (8/17/23 by ATF agents in West Richland, Wash.),
charged & arraigned (11/3/23) with 1st degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony & child abuse. DA will seek the DP. Held without bail on Fugitive warrant (in Benton County, WA). Was extradited on 10/20/23 to Florida. Plead not guilty. No bond.
*Mario Enrique Fernandez Saldana (34/now 36) arrested (in Kissimmee, Orange County, 3/22/23) &
charged & indicted (3/16/23) & arraigned (4/4/23) with 1st degree murder with a weapon, conspiracy to commit 1st degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony & child abuse. In Orange County jail waiting for transfer to Jacksonville in Duval County. Transferred to Duval County on 3/22/23. Held without bond. Plead not guilty. DA will seek the DP.
Trial was set to begin on 4/13/24 for both was cancelled with no further dates.
Judge London M. Kite. State attorney Christina Simak Stiller. Gardener defense attorneys Jose Angel Baez, lead counsel & Patrick K. Korody.
Saldana defense attorneys Frank John Tassone, Jr., Jesse Driecer & James Hill.
Case & court info from 3/16/23 thru 5/2/24 reference post #451 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...-feb-2022-3-arrests-1-guilty-2.689030/page-23
5/7/24 Update: A judge was expected to rule Thursday on whether the State Attorney’s Office should be disqualified from prosecuting the couple accused of conspiring to kill Bridegan in 2022. But the defense teams for Shanna Gardner & her estranged husband, Mario Fernandez, filed more motions & asked to examine the lead prosecutor, delaying Judge London Kite’s decision. Gardner & Fernandez will be back in court on 5/13/24 for ruling on motion & defense’s motion to adopt argument presented during co-defendant [Gardner’s] hearing on 4/19/24.
5/13/24 Update: Judge London Kite issued her ruling Monday & ruled there will be no change of prosecutors, but with some harsh words for the prosecutors' handling of confidential materials in the case. Ordering additional guidelines, she said they can move forward with seeking the death penalty against Saldana & Gardner in the murder-for-hire death of Gardner’s ex-husband Jared. She specifically discussed the two documents in question, a timeline & text messages. For the timeline, she said there’s no evidence the state opened it or intends to use it. Therefore prejudice could not be substantiated. She said the text messages do not bear the hallmarks of attorney-client privilege. But Kite said the state’s handling of the materials “left it all open to a high probability that attorney-client privilege information would be exposed both to law enforcement & the state without proper review.” She said that’s not necessarily misconduct. However, “It was poor judgment.” The court found it wasn’t substantial misconduct because the state, when alerted, acted appropriately by disabling & shutting down restricted access to the platform, Kite said. Dismissal would be inappropriate, the judge stated. The option that the court is left with, she said, is to suppress the timeline & text messages from the case. Moving forward, Kite said it also will be necessary to conduct a thorough case management discovery hearing with both sides. “What was happening before these issues were brought to the court is not acceptable,” the judge said. She scheduled the next motions hearing for 5/15/24 @ 9am & case management hearing on 5/24/24 @ 1pm.
Court Order denying defendant's Motions to Disqualify Office of the State attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit & Order Granting Suppression. See post #464, page 24, thread #2.
5/12/24 Docket update: Defendant's 2nd Disclosure to Prosecution (Gardner). Defendant's witnesses to be called at evidentiary hearings and/or trial: 1. Henry M. Cox, III, esq 7 Megan White, c/o Korody Law filed by Baez.
*Henry Arthur Tenon (61/now 62) – Plead guilty (3/17/23) to 2nd degree murder & will testify against Saldana & Gardner. Status hearing on 5/20/24.