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.
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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.”
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.
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.”
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.
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.
Gardner and Fernandez are facing the possible death penalty and are currently being held without bond.
The trial for Gardner and Fernandez is set to start on Oct. 20 at 9 a.m.