Published on February 7, 2025 at 1:15 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
A confessed killer’s desire to recant testimony in a high-profile death penalty case prompted a hasty end to a court hearing Jan. 13 and an urgent meeting the next day with prosecutors. But according to the State Attorney’s Office, “nothing” was discussed at the Jan. 14 meeting.
That assertion was met with skepticism by attorneys for Henry Tennon’s co-defendants, who face the death penalty for allegedly orchestrating the murder of father of four Jared Briedgan in Jacksonville Beach in 2022.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Tennon, the admitted triggerman in the killing, agreed to become a state witness in the case and testify against Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her new husband, Mario Fernandez-Saldana. But his stunning admission during a court hearing Jan. 13, saying he wanted to discuss his “false testimony,” put his role as a key state witness in jeopardy.
His statement, and the response of both the judge and prosecutors, was the focus of a hearing Friday after attorneys for Saldana and Gardner filed a motion this week demanding additional information. The motion noted the defendants weren’t notified about Tenon’s stunning admission for nearly three weeks. It asked prosecutors for information about what happened at their meeting with Tenon.
And finally, it questioned whether Circuit Judge London Kite responded appropriately when Tenon said at the same hearing that he wanted another lawyer.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Under Florida law, if a defendant complains about his legal representation, a judge must conduct what’s called a Nelson inquiry. The inquiry can be brief, but must determine whether a defendant’s complaint is substantive enough to merit assigning a new attorney.
In this case, Saldana’s defense attorney, Jesse Dreicer, noted that Kite not only failed to conduct a Nelson inquiry, she hustled Tenon out of the Jan. 13 hearing with the very lawyer he hoped to shed.
On Friday, the judge acknowledged the record needed to be “perfected” to explain why she didn’t bring Tenon back into court Jan. 13 to discuss his request for a new attorney, and instead postponed his hearing, initially for a week and eventually until mid-April.
During a lengthy question-and-answer session Friday involving not only the judge and prosecutor Alan Mizrahi, but Tenon’s public defender, Al Chipperfield, it emerged that the three held a “sidebar” after Tenon’s statement.
Chipperfield said his client’s statement about false testimony surprised him, and he said the request for another lawyer was not his first concern at that moment. “The surprise of what he said overtook everything else,” Chipperfield said.
But he also said he didn’t give Tenon’s request for another attorney much weight. “I knew he didn’t want to get rid of me as his lawyer. I know my client,” he said.
For her part, Kite said she conducts Nelson inquiries frequently and typically gives defendants an opportunity to speak privately with their attorney before she conducts one, to see if their problems can be resolved.
Chipperfield said Friday that, in meeting with Tenon, he quickly determined it would be necessary for his client to meet with prosecutors, and both sides jointly asked Kite for a delay.
Dreicer asked what happened at the Jan. 14 meeting, including what prompted Tenon’s surprise admission and whether Tenon was still considered a state witness. Mizrahi insisted there was “nothing” to disclose from the meeting.
Dreicer was skeptical. “It’s hard to believe Mr. Tenon made no statements,” he said.
The judge asked prosecutors to formalize their response, “enunciating that there is nothing else to disclose,” and set a follow-up hearing on the matter for next Wednesday.
