Shanna Gardner’s defense team continues to call out prosecutors for alleged misconduct

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The defense team for one of the three suspects accused of conspiring to kill Jared Bridegan continues to allege prosecutors are not disclosing certain evidence.

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Meanwhile prosecutors argue in no way did they mislead the court.

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In a hearing Friday, Shanna Gardner’s high-profile defense attorney, Jose Baez, called three witnesses to testify.

Two appeared on zoom and one in-person.

The main focus of this hearing was to address claims Baez made that the prosecution withheld evidence, lied during court testimony and mischaracterized witness statements.

“We got to do something to stop this type of conduct,” said Baez.

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“In no way did I affirmatively mislead this court or did the detective affirmatively mislead this court,” said prosecutor Christina Stifler.

Baez has alleged text messages, including one from 2016 in which Gardner asked her friend, “is it too late to get a hitman,” were mischaracterized by the prosecution.

One of the witnesses called to the stand, testified that she and a friend from church had a long running joke between them about looking for a hitman.

“The joke had nothing to do with Shanna,” said Kim Jensen. “And it was years before I had even met Shanna. I understand that the word sounds bad but in the context that it was, it was something we joked about many years before I even knew Shanna.”

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Meanwhile the state disagreed.

“It stops being a joke when you’re talking about it with your friend and then you start reaching out to other people about it,” said Stifler.

The next court date is set for Sep. 23.

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