JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jared Bridegan's ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, pleaded not guilty during her arraignment Friday morning inside of the Duval County Courthouse, as she is charged in what prosecutors call a murder-for-hire plot on Bridegan in February 2022.
Gardner, 36, faces charges of first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony, conspiracy to commit murder and child abuse, according to jail records. Gardner's husband, Mario Fernandez-Saldana, and a man named Henry Tenon, have also been charged in relation to the plot. Standing out from her codefendants, Gardner will be in court along with a high-powered attorney who is sure to bring extra attention. Court records revealed Wednesday that Gardner changed her attorneys and hired Jose Baez, an attorney who has been involved with several cases that were followed across the country.
Here's a look inside some of Baez's prominent court cases.
Casey Anthony's 2008 Death of Daughter Trial
Orlando, Fla. mom Casey Anthony was acquitted on July 5, 2011 on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child after the death of her 3-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony.
Caylee was last seen on June 16, 2008. Her grandmother then reported her missing about a month later on July 15. The next day, Anthony was arrested on charges of child neglect after she told investigators her daughter vanished with a babysitter.
Six months later, Caylee's remains were found in a wooded area less than a mile away from her family's home in Orlando.
During the trial in which started on May 24, 2011, prosecutors alleged Anthony drugged Caylee with chloroform and duct-taped her mouth. Experts even testified about air samples that showed decaying human remains in Anthony's trunk.
Her defense team headed by Baez, however, argued she didn't report Caylee missing because she accidentally drowned in the pool and Anthony feared being accused of killing her intentionally.
By the end, Anthony was acquitted on first-degree murder, but was convicted of lying to police. Anthony was only sentenced to three years, but the judge credited her for time served. As a result, she was released from jail 12 days after her conviction.
Aaron Hernandez's 2017 Double-Murder Trial
On June 9, 2016, former NFL player Aaron Hernandez hired Baez, who famously won the acquittal for Anthony, to represent him in his upcoming double-murder trial.
The late New England Patriots star tight end was set to face trial in 2017 for a July 2012 double murder in Boston in which Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado were killed in a drive-by shooting. Hernandez pleaded not guilty to the charges.
After six days of deliberations, a jury found Hernandez not guilty of first-degree murder in the killings of Abreu and Furtado but, convicted him of unlawful possession of a gun. Hernandez faced eight counts in total, including two of murder and a charge he was acquitted on for shooting his friend who was with him at the time Abreu and Furtado were killed, Alexander Bradley, in the face in an attempt to silence him. The judge sentenced Hernandez to an additional four to five years in prison, separate from his existing life sentence from an unrelated 2013 murder case.
Hernandez committed suicide by hanging himself with a bed sheet in his jail cell five days after the jury reached the non guilty verdict on murder and the other charges.
Tory Lanez's 2022 Megan Thee Stallion Shooting Trial
Rapper Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Aug. 7, 2023 for shooting and wounding hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in July 2020.
Lanez, 31, was convicted on three felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm, having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
Megan testified during the trial that Lanez fired the gun at the back of her feet and shouted for her to dance as she walked away from an SUV in which they had been riding, after leaving a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s home in Los Angeles. She said she had to have surgery to remove bullet fragments.
Lanez was given about 10 months of credit for time he’s served, most of it spent in jail since his conviction in December 2022.
“We’re extremely disappointed,” Baez said outside the courthouse. “I have seen vehicular homicide and other cases where there’s death, and the defendant still gets less than 10 years.”
Baez called the sentence, “really just another example of someone being punished for their celebrity status and someone being utilized to set an example. And he’s not an example. He’s a human being.”
Baez is also known for his ill-fated, five month stint as part of Harvey Weinstein's "dream team" of attorneys. He withdrew from the team and Weinstein later sued him for a reimbursement of his fees, according to reports.