JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jared Bridegan's ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her second husband, Mario Fernandez, appeared in Duval County court Friday morning for a pre-trial hearing on the two-year anniversary of Bridegan's death.
Gardner and Fernandez are both accused of taking part in an elaborate plot to lure Bridegan, a father of four from St. Johns County, to the site of his murder in Jacksonville Beach in 2022.
Gardner, 36, and Fernandez, 35, both face charges of first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony, conspiracy to commit murder, and child abuse, according to jail records. A man named Henry Tenon has also been charged in relation to the plot, as he pleaded guilty to killing Bridegan.
In the courtroom Friday, there were tense moments between the prosecution and defense teams over contested evidence.
Kirsten Bridegan, Bridegan's widow, was in attendance sitting next to State Attorney Melissa Nelson.
The focus of this hearing was to set a date to hear arguments about an issue with evidence and whether or not the State Attorney's Office should stay on the case. The defense teams say attorney-client privileged communications were uploaded to a NextPoint site that the prosecutors had access to. The defense wants the State Attorney's Office's Fourth Judicial Circuit removed from the case.
The prosecutors say they did not open or view those files, but there are two specific documents being disputed.
Gardner's defense say after doing depositions on this issue, they feel it is a bigger issue than they initially thought. The defense also said they will be filing a motion to dismiss the indictment against Gardner, though they have not filed that yet.
Judge London Kite is overseeing this trial, but she has decided to ask for an independent judge to hear the arguments over the evidence issue since it potentially involves attorney-client privileged communications.
Gardner's defense team discussed the motion for her to have a bond hearing, but it was agreed in court Friday that will not occur until the issue with evidence and the State Attorney's Office is decided.
Gardner and Fernandez are next due back in court March 4.
