JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An issue that has plagued a high-profile murder case in Jacksonville for more than a year appears to be on a path to being resolved according to the latest court filings in the case.

It all centers around the access to evidence in the murder trial of Shanna Gardner and her second husband Mario Fernandez. They are accused of orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot to kill Gardner’s ex-husband Jared Bridegan in 2022.

According to a new court filing, Thomas C. Gano, will be conducting a content-blind review of the electronic evidence. The Florida Bar website, Gano is listed as a member in good standing based in Gadsden County. The court order states he “shall identify and redact information from the electronic evidence that may contain attorney-client privileged content.”

With Gardner and Fernandez set to go to trial in October, this issue with the evidence needed to be resolved. It began more than a year ago when it was realized that attorney-client privileged communications were uploaded to a shared site that all attorneys could access as a part of the discovery in this case. The site was shut down and a “taint team” involving a secret service agent was brought in to do the redactions. Then issues arose with that agent and his communications with the State Attorney’s Office.

Next, a Clay County Sheriff’s Office detective was tapped to do the redactions, but he told the court it would take him at least a year to do the review. 

According to this latest court filing, Mr. Gano will now take over the review and provide the court with monthly status reports. The order also said “The state has agreed and waived its right to be present for Mr. Gano to communicate with the attorneys for the Defendants, which would facilitate searching and identifying attorney-client privileged information.”

The State Attorney’s Office may only speak with Gano in regards to the transfer of the evidence and if there is any technical support needed. The order goes on to say “Mr. Gano and the technical support shall not disclose the content of any of the electronic evidence or seek advice from the state or law enforcement to resolve questions about the content of any of the electronic evidence.”

The order said any questions about the electronic evidence will be brought before the court and once the review is complete the defense attorneys will have 15 days to do “first review” before it is disclosed to all parties.

Gardner and Fernandez are still set to be tried on first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse charges in October. Both have plead not guilty. The state attorney’s office has said if found guilty, it will seek the death penalty.