JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The legal team for Mario Fernandez-Saldana, the Jacksonville man accused of killing his wife's ex-husband, is asking for the entire State Attorney's Office in Duval County be barred from prosecuting in the case. The motion also asks for the website where the alleged privileged communication is stored to be deactivated and reviewed again.
Fernandez and his wife, Shanna Gardner, are set to be tried together for the 2022 murder of Jared Bridegan. They are both accused of taking part in an elaborate plot to lure Bridegan to the site of his murder in Jacksonville Beach, working with a man named Henry Tenon, who has pleaded guilty to killing Bridegan.
Fernandez is represented by a team of attorneys made up of Frank Tassone, Jesse Dreicer, James Hill and Shannon Day. The attorneys filed a motion Wednesday to disqualify the Fourth Judicial Circuit Office of the State Attorney from prosecuting the case. The motion accuses the assistant state attorneys of obtaining and distributing text messages, emails and voicemails from Fernandez's phone. His attorneys say that should be protected by attorney-client privilege.
The motion also alleges that "at least 66" privileged communications between Fernandez and his attorneys were uploaded into a shared portal called 'NextPoint' that 28 people had access to. According to the motion, "it is impossible for Defense counsel to determine the scope and severity of the breach in confidentiality."
The motion also says the defense counsel for Fernandez has confirmed the counsel for Gardner downloaded privileged emails from this portal.
The attorneys cite multiple precedent cases in Florida where the State Attorney's Office was removed from a case under similar circumstances.
The lawsuit includes heavily redacted emails between Fernandez and his attorneys, which have the subject line 'Confidential Information,' examples of emails the attorneys say the prosecution read and distributed.
Email correspondence between the prosecution and defense shows the defense asked about having any privileged communication removed from Fernandez's cellphone, which was confiscated for evidence. The prosecution said they would have a "taint" officer go through the phone and delete anything that was privileged.
The lawsuit also cites a conversation between the prosecution and a judge where an assistant state attorney said they would hire a taint team.
An email included in the motion shows this attorney told the defense they did hire an officer to make the appropriate redactions.
In response to the motion, the State Attorney's Office says, "The State will file appropriate objections to the defendant's motion and is confident it will prevail after full consideration by the court."
Attorney Shannon Schott, who is not apart of the case, called the motion concerning.
"There's really no way that the prosecution could move forward in good faith. If they've seen the information, if it's in their file, it really is appropriate for another prosecutor in another office, who is going to be shielded in some way from the evidence that's been obtained," Attorney Shannon Schott said.
Schott says the next step would be to go through an evidentiary hearing, where the state will make the determination if they can or cannot proceed in the case. If they choose to fight the motion, a judge will make the decision. If the Fourth Judicial Circuit Office is disqualified from the case, attorneys from a neighboring county can be appointed to prosecute the case on behalf of the State.