Jacksonville prosecutors respond to 'spurious allegations' by Shanna Gardner's attorney

It's been over a month since Shanna Gardner's private defense attorney Jose Baez held his own court on the steps of the Duval County Courthouse declaring lies and deception by the lead detectives and prosecutors in her death penalty case .

"The actual conduct couldn't be more egregious," Baez said during his nearly half-hour news conference on June 21, insinuating they’re manufacturing the case because they don’t have a solid case. "You have only heard one side of this case, and what's coming out of it reeks."

The State Attorney's Office said afterward, “We will respond to these spurious allegations in the appropriate venue — the courtroom, not the courthouse steps. We continue to abide by the ethical standards that govern all Florida attorneys regarding trial publicity.”

Baez made his comments as his office was filing a nine-page motion “to release defendant on bond, to prohibit the state from using certain evidence at trial based on state’s failure to disclose favorable evidence, and for other relief,” the document states.

A few days later during a pretrial hearing, the judge scheduled the next hearing for Aug. 16.

On Thursday the State Attorney's Office filed its six-page response countering the defense's motion and allegations.

What is Shanna Gardner charged with?

On Aug. 17, 2023, Gardner was indicted in her ex-husband Jared Bridegan's death on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse. She was arrested in the state of Washington where she was living.

Jacksonville Beach murder plot: Bodycam video shows Shanna Gardner's arrest in ex-Jared Bridegan's murder plot

Mario Fernandez Saldana , her now estranged husband, was arrested on the same charges on March 16, 2023, in Orlando.

The first arrest came on Jan. 25, 2023, with Henry Arthur Tenon being charged with conspiracy to commit murder, second-degree murder with a weapon, accessory after the fact to a capital felony and child abuse. Tenon has already pleaded guilty and agreed to testify in the case as the actual defendant who pulled the trigger, State Attorney Melissa Nelson previously said. He had rented a home from Fernandez Saldana.

What happened to Jared Bridegan?

On the evening of Feb. 16, 2022, Bridegan had just dropped off his 9-year-old twin son and daughter to Gardner and Fernandez Saldana's home in Jacksonville Beach and was headed back to St. Augustine where he lived. With his 2-year-old daughter in the car, he stopped because of a tire on the road near the exit of The Sanctuary neighborhood.

In what police believed from the onset that this was a planned murder , he was shot multiple times as he apparently attempted to move the tire. His vehicle's hazard lights were still blinking with his daughter sitting in her car seat unharmed. Police said nothing appeared to have been stolen and this was his regular route where he was expected to be. He was 33 and had been in a lengthy contentious legal battle with his ex-wife Gardner.

What did Shanna Gardner's attorney Jose Baez say?

After calling his June 21 news conference, Baez said it wasn’t something he does often but this was of great public interest and importance. He said his motion advises the court of violations by the state in not turning over material to the defense in a timely fashion. Much of it focuses on testimony that came from a May 15 hearing seeking bail for Gardner that the judge would deny.

Jacksonville Beach Police Department Detective Christopher Johns testified about text messages between Gardner's friends Kim Jensen and Susan Lee, Baez said.

“This name [Susan Lee] had never been made known to us previously up until the night before the hearing," he said. "We objected to these text messages from coming in, and that was overruled.”

The messages “discussed potential suitors to carry out the murder of Jared Bridegan at Ms. Gardner’s direction,” according to the motion.

Johns testified that he did not speak with Lee but that one of his officers did, according to Baez. When pressed in court, the detective later said the witness had changed her phone number and they were having difficulty reaching her.

“S.L. was actually watching the hearing at that time and was outraged by the lies told by Detective Johns in this matter,” Baez said Friday.

Lee said she did not change her phone number and she’s had the same one since 2014. She also said she didn’t speak with any detective other than Johns, Baez said, calling them “straight-up lies made by the lead detective involving a critical witness.”

“The actual truth is that this was a running joke between the two witnesses,” he said about the text conversations.

Baez said the two lead prosecutors and two lead detectives also met with Jensen, which was part of the testimony, but the questioning was not recorded or written up in a report.

“If you have four highly trained individuals getting a statement from the most critical witness in the case, you record it. Otherwise you’re incredibly incompetent and perhaps they should be fired for that reason,” Baez said at his news conference.

Jared Bridegan's ex-wife : Here's what Shanna Gardner told police in her first extensive interview after ex's death

“K.J. also got to view this hearing and as it turns out was equally enraged by some of the lies told by Detective Johns and some of the key facts omitted by the prosecution such as the statements and many of the text messages that were displayed in an attempt to keep Shanna Gardner in custody, they were told specifically by K.J. that many of them were made in jest and they were not taken seriously by anyone. And in fact many of the individuals who are surrounding this case knew that," Baez said. "This critical information … was never disclosed to the defense.”

Baez said he hopes the State Attorney's Office clears up any ambiguities immediately.

"That they explain why they didn’t record that meeting," he said. "Why they didn’t file a police report on that meeting. Why Detective Johns is lying about speaking to a person when in fact he actually did."

What is the State Attorney's Office response to Jose Baez?

The State Attorney's Office's initial response attached a link to "The Florida Bar — Professionalism Expectations," noting Section 2. Included in that section are statements about conduct and that "a lawyer must avoid disparaging personal remarks or acrimony toward opposing parties, opposing counsel, third parties or the court."

In its response motion Thursday, a footnote on Page 1 linking to Baez's televised comments to the media states: "Before filing the motion or serving the state with the motion, defense counsel held a self-serving news conference on the courthouse steps to announce the filing of the motion. During the news conference, defense counsel made sweeping accusations regarding the practices of law enforcement and the State Attorney's Office. Despite the theatrics, counsel failed to identify specific exculpatory statements the state should have, but failed to, disclose."

The State Attorney's Office's response said witness Jensen's opinions about the context of the text messages have been known to the defense since the state provided the evidence as part of its release of materials on Nov. 13, 2023.

"Specifically, the assistant state attorney had a phone discussion with defendant's counsel on November 13, 2023, regarding both the text messages and unrecorded statements provided by Jensen," the motion states. "The assistant state attorney advised counsel to seek to unseal Jensen's grand jury testimony. ... Defense counsel acknowledged this conversation in an email to the state and in the 'Defendant's Unopposed Motion for Transcript of Grand Jury Testimony' [which is attached to the motion] both dated November 14, 2023."

The court granted the motion that December and provided the testimony. The State Attorney's Office also noted that Jensen has been on the defense's witness list since December 2023 and could have been called by the defense to testify during Gardner's hearing requesting bail.

"The state also tendered to the court text communications between defendant and her friend Susan Lee wherein the defendant sought help in finding someone to kill Jared Bridegan," the state's motion says. "To date, Lee has not been listed by the state as a witness."

As for Baez's assertions that the detective "lied to the court regarding numerous material facts and hearsay statements," Johns explained in his testimony that he did not have the case file or reports with him and could not recall the details of the contact with Lee. If his recollection is mistaken, he will be subject to impeachment during any future testimony, the State Attorney's Office advised.

The office also disagrees that the text messages were "part of a larger ongoing joke."

"Ultimately, the court or a factfinder will determine the evidentiary value of these messages," the motion states. "Contrary to the defendant's claims and her counsel's accusations, the state has committed no Brady violations related to these messages or their senders' subjective opinions about them."

The motion did not address why the follow-up interview with Jensen was not recorded.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville prosecutors respond to 'spurious allegations' by Shanna Gardner's attorney