Should State Attorney's Office be disqualified in Jared Bridegan case? Defense thinks so.

The legal team for Mario Fernandez Saldana, one of the co-defendants accused in the ambush shooting death of his wife's ex-husband, is asking for the 4th Circuit State Attorney's Office to be barred from prosecuting the case due to violating confidentiality.

Fernandez and wife Shanna Lee Gardner are set to be tried together for the 2022 murder of 33-year-old Jared Bridegan. They are both facing multiple charges of taking part in an elaborate plot to lure Bridegan from St. Augustine to the site of his murder in Jacksonville Beach, working with 62-year-old Henry Arthur Tenon, who has pleaded guilty to killing Bridegan. The state is seeking the death penalty against the husband and wife.

Fernandez, 35, is represented by a team of attorneys made up of Frank Tassone, Jesse Dreicer, James Hill and Shannon Day. They filed a motion Wednesday that 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 team for Fernandez has confirmed the counsel for Gardner, 36, downloaded privileged emails from this portal. It asks for the website where the materials are stored to be deactivated and reviewed again.

The attorneys cite multiple precedent cases in Florida where a state attorney's office was removed from a case under similar circumstances.

The materials include 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 63-page motion 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 new development, 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."

If the office is barred, the governor would have to assign another circuit.

Attorney Shannon Schott, who is not a part of the case, called the motion concerning.

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"There's really no way that the prosecution could move forward in good faith," Schott said. "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."

Schott said 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.

This story was first published on First Coast News.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: State Attorney's Office accused of tainting Jared Bridegan case