JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After being found guilty of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the fatal shooting of Jared Bridegan, Mario Fernandez Saldana’s attorneys have filed a motion for a new trial.
Saldana is accused of conspiring with his estranged wife, Shanna Gardner, to murder her ex-husband, Jared Bridegan, and hiring a hit man, Henry Tenon, to carry out the murder. Saldana was found guilty by a jury August 26.
Just one day after he was found guilty in the killing of Jared Bridegan, Mario Fernandez Saldana was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation in a separate criminal case.
The motion for a new trial, filed by Saldana’s attorneys September 3, claims he did not receive a fair and impartial trial. The defense alleges that “the State’s proof of Mr. Fernandez’s alleged participation in the homicide depended upon a series of circumstantial links connecting him to Mr. Tenon and the homicide.”
The filing goes on to list what the defense claims are evidentiary gaps and asserts that prosecutors failed to provide the jury with “critical facts necessary to prove its theory.”
The court has yet to respond to the motion. Action News Jax will continue to provide updates on this case as we learn more.
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