Spencer Pearson, man accused of stabbing ex-girlfriend, pleads not guilty to all charges

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — The teen accused of stabbing his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend and two others in Ponte Vedra Beach last month appeared in court today.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Matthew Kachergus represents Spencer Pearson. In court today, he pleaded not guilty to five charges -- two of those are for attempted murder, and the others are for aggravated battery.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Pearson could face life in prison. That’s the maximum penalty if he was convicted. And the minimum would be 16.25 years in prison.

Prior to the arraignment today, Kachergus filed a motion challenging the release of a piece of evidence. The video appears to show Pearson attacking Madison Schmitz. He says he should have been notified of this evidence.

“And so it’s troubling to see the discovery of my case being disseminated widely through the media before I’ve even seen it or even know it’s being disseminated,” Kachergus said.

Schemitz’s family was in court today, but they decided not to comment on the proceedings.

Action News Jax law and safety expert Dale Carson says Kachergus should receive all the evidence in a case. But the complaint here is that the media, and therefore the public, received it before he did.

“And of course, from a defense perspective, when this happens, you are perhaps limiting the ability of a defendant, your client to receive a fair trial,” Carson said.

But Carson says since the video originated from a third party, and not law enforcement, so it can be distributed.

“And in today’s environment, with social media, and the Internet, generally, the idea of having a jury panel, none of whom have ever heard anything about a given case, is pretty, pretty rare,” Carson said.

The prosecutor handling this case for the state attorney’s office, Kaitlyn Payne, explained that while this may be exempt material, it is not confidential.

“And it does specifically say that the exemption does not prohibit from showing such information,” Payne said.

Kachergus claims when there have been requests for records that are usually exempt from release, he has always been notified ahead of time.

“In this one instance, where they decided that in their discretion that they want to disseminate this to the media that they can do it, I find a little incongruous with my 20 plus years of experience,” Kachergus said.

The judge denied the protective order motion.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Kachergus was able to receive a later trial date for the case. The judge set person’s pre-trial date for September 28th at 1:30 pm.