JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – All criminal proceedings in the case against a couple accused in a murder-for-hire plot have been put on hold after a judge’s ruling this week.
A judge ruled that the murder trial of Mario Fernandez and his estranged wife Shanna Gardner, who are accused in the death of Gardner’s ex-husband Jared Bridegan, can’t move forward until an issue involving State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s Office is resolved.
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Defense attorneys said they want Nelson’s office thrown off the case after they claimed the State Attorney’s Office (SAO) unlawfully obtained privileged communications between Fernandez and Gardner, and communications protected by attorney-client privilege as evidence.
At the last status conference, Judge London Kite said she doesn’t want to look at the contested communications. Now, she’s asked presiding Judge Lance Day to appoint a special judge to “review the contested materials to determine whether the contested materials contain attorney-client privileged information.”
Judge Kite stayed the criminal proceedings until the matter is resolved.
Gardner and Fernandez have another status conference on Monday.
Although a so-called “taint team” was initially created to redact privileged communications, the defense claims that the SAO continued to use privileged information, such as a document titled “Confidential Communications.” The SAO insisted the document was not confidential, and the defense was denied access, according to the motion.
Fernandez, 35, was arrested in Orlando in March 2023, exactly one year and one month after the murder. Gardner, 36, was arrested five months later in August in her family’s $1 million home in Washington state. State attorney Nelson said her office plans to seek the death penalty against both of them for their role in plotting the alleged murder-for-hire, an ambush shooting that happened after Bridegan dropped the two children he shared with Gardner off at her Jacksonville Beach home.
The large amount of evidence in the case prompted the creation of a Nextpoint portal to store it all. It took months to create the portal. The defense wasn’t granted access until Oct. 20, and was “shocked” to learn the SAO intends to use attorney-client privileged communications, including 66 emails between Gardner and defense lawyers.
The defense argues that obtaining a recorded phone call between Gardner and her defense lawyer in Washington State is “especially troubling.” The evidence against Fernandez and Gardner includes wiretaps, recorded jail calls, and other monitoring methods. Among those who had access, according to the documents, were prosecutors, police detectives, and federal agents with the ATF.
The defense said at least 28 people have been granted access to the Nextpoint portal, which it calls a “breach of confidentiality.” They assert that the SAO took no action to prevent the mass distribution of communications protected by attorney-client privilege.
If Nelson’s office is disqualified, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will appoint a special prosecutor from a different circuit. The closest circuits are in Daytona Beach, Gainesville, and Orlando.
“The State will file appropriate objections to the defendant’s motion and is confident it will prevail after full consideration by the Court,” the SAO said in a statement.