Jared Bridegan murder: Judge delays ruling of motion to disqualify local prosecutors
A judge has delayed the decision to rule on a critical issue in the Jared Bridegan murder case.
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That ruling was whether the State Attorney’s Office should be disqualified from prosecuting the husband-and-wife suspects accused in the murder-for-hire plot against Bridegan.
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Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner and her estranged husband Mario Fernandez Saldana are accused in a murder-for-hire plot against Bridegan. He was shot and killed in Jacksonville Beach in February 2022.
In court on Thursday, the judge heard arguments from both parties, but no ruling was made, as originally planned.
All of those arguments were centered around attorney-client privilege.
Fernandez Saldana’s defense team filed a motion back in November, trying to get the state attorney’s office removed from this case.
RELATED: Jared Bridegan murder: Mario Fernandez’s attorneys file motion to disqualify State Attorney’s Office
Defense attorneys claim prosecutors in the office had access to legally protected materials stored on Gardner’s iCloud, arguing that it’s a violation of their rights and attorney-client privilege.
The State Attorney’s Office argues that they looked at two documents that were saved on a google drive which were labeled confidential but not attorney-client privileged.
And they said they did everything they could to ensure they did not look at any attorney-client information.
However, the defense disputes that.
That ruling is now expected during the next court date, set for May 13th.
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