JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Attorneys for Shanna Gardner, who is accused of plotting to have her ex-husband killed in 2022, filed a new motion Thursday to sanction prosecutors with the State Attorney’s Office, following the discovery of several “violations and failures” in the case.
RELATED | Attorney for Shanna Gardner accuses State Attorney’s Office of withholding ‘critical evidence’
Jose Baez, Gardner’s attorney, filed the new motion which includes 12 arguments to support it, and said the “State Attorney’s Office has repeatedly and without consequence abused its authority.”
Belkis Plata, an attorney not associated with the case, says a motion for sanctions is very serious.
“They’re not to be filed lightly,” Plata said.
The motion also claimed that the prosecutor issued an “ex-parte investigative subpoena” in June 2024 to J.B., who was identified as an “alleged unindicted co-conspirator” in the case. According to the motion, the use of the subpoena by the prosecutor was “illegal” because Gardner listed J.B. as a defense witness in December 2023.
“Ms. Gardner has been prejudiced because she has no clue as to what information J.B. provided to the prosecutors,” the motion states.
“The defense is saying, we list this person as a witness for the defense. Once they do that, it triggers a rule that says, hey now prosecution, if you want to talk to this person, you have to put me on notice, and I have to be able to be in that room when you’re speaking to them,” Plata explained. “They’re saying that the prosecution circumvented the rule by issuing a subpoena to that same person under the codefendant’s case.”
Gardner and her estranged husband Mario Fernandez are under indictment for first-degree murder in what prosecutors say was a murder-for-hire plot in the death of Gardner’s ex-husband, 33-year-old Jared Bridegan.
The new motion also mentions Henry Tenon, the man who admitted to pulling the trigger in Bridegan’s murder, and who recently backtracked on his sworn statement that incriminated Gardner and Fernandez.
According to the motion, the State Attorney’s Office “failed to disclose favorable evidence” in a timely manner, claiming that the prosecutor “buried” Tenon’s “false testimony” claims with other materials. The motion then adds that the transcript of Tenon’s hearing was completed on Jan. 21 and the defense was able to access the transcript on Feb. 5 and that it was “unlabeled with more than 80 other files.”
Plata shared that usually discovery is supposed to be organized.
“The defense is saying we’re just getting all of these things, and now we have to sift through them to see what’s here and what’s not. When, in fact, they were supposed to have provided this to us a very long time ago, and some of these things they should have never done to begin,” she said.
The motion also states the State Attorney’s Office used “heavy-handed tactics” with a defense witness identified as K.J.
Gardner’s attorney said K.J. was intimidated by law enforcement officers who served her with a subpoena in a Publix Supermarket parking lot for her to “immediately” appear at the State Attorney’s Office in July 2023 and was “threatened with arrest for murder” by the prosecutor.
“The State has disclosed no reports, notes, or other documentation memorializing this encounter,” the motion says.
According to the motion, Gardner is seeking the following sanctions and relief:
- Prohibit the State (prosecutors and law enforcement) from obtaining any search warrants or issuing any subpoenas in this case without first providing notice to Ms. Gardner.
- Order the State (prosecutors and law enforcement) to turn over any and all notes related to the ex-parte encounters with Tenon, K.J., and J.B. at the State Attorney’s Office.
- Prohibit the State (prosecutors and law enforcement) from having any ex-parte encounters with Tenon without first providing notice to the Defendants and an opportunity to be present.
- Authorize Ms. Gardner to depose Alan Chipperfield and Matthew Bodie, Tenon’s attorneys, regarding the meetings at the State Attorney’s Office between Tenon and the prosecutors.
- Order the State Attorney’s Office to pay Ms. Gardner’s costs associated with litigating this and any further discovery issues in this case at a rate of $500 per hour.
“Some of the things that they are arguing for, I think the court may consider others, I just I don’t,” said Plata.
Tenon, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Bridegan, had been held in Duval County jail since his arrest in January 2023. But, according to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office inmate portal, Tenon was transferred to its jail on Wednesday.
News4JAX emailed Jose Baez’s office and the State Attorney’s Office for a comment on this filing.
The State Attorney’s Office said they will respond to the latest motion in writing to the court. We’re still waiting to hear back from Baez’s office at this time.
Gardner and Fernandez are facing the possible death penalty and are currently being held without bond.
Gardner’s next court hearing is set for Mar. 28. The trial for Gardner and Fernandez is set to start on Oct. 20 at 9 a.m.
