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Attorneys for Mario Fernandez-Saldana and Shanna Gardner argue the SAO should be removed from the case over the handling of attorney-client privileged materials.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two people accused of planning and carrying out the murder of a father of four in Jacksonville Beach are back before a judge Monday morning.
Mario Fernandez-Saldana and Shanna Gardner both face first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse charges in the death of Gardner’s ex-husband, Jared Bridegan.
Bridegan was shot to death in what investigators describe as a murder-for-hire plot in February 2022.
Fernandez-Saldana and Gardner have plead not guilty to all charges.
Before criminal proceedings can continue, two issues must be resolved: contested documents and the defense’s motion to disqualify the State Attorney’s Office Fourth Judicial Circuit.
Both defense teams are asking for the State Attorney’s Office Fourth Judicial Circuit to be removed from the case over allegations of mishandling attorney-client privileged communications.
In court filings, the defense teams for Fernandez-Saldana and Gardner allege that when the pair’s Apple devices were seized and their iCloud and Google drives were downloaded, both had already retained lawyers.
The defense argues that it alerted the prosecution that there were attorney-client privileged communications on the devices, according to court filings. The prosecution created a so-called “taint team” to redact attorney-client privileged materials before investigators could review the information, the defense argues.
While there were items redacted, there are two documents in question that the prosecution says are admissible and the defense argues are privileged.
Gardner’s attorneys also filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against her, calling the State Attorney’s Office conduct “patently improper” and “egregious.”
In court on March 7, Judge London Kite, who is assigned to the case, said since it potentially involves attorney-client privileged materials, she did not want to view them and an independent judge, the Honorable Robert Foster, was appointed.
Foster was given unredacted copies of the contested documents and all other materials that were originally redacted as privileged.
In the hearing Monday morning, a decision will be made regarding which judge will make the ruling on the issue – Kite or Foster.
Editor’s note: Watch the hearing in the above video player or YouTube video below.
