JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Monday, 100 potential jurors made their way inside the courtroom for jury selection for Mario Fernandez Saldana’s murder trial, the man accused of orchestrating a murder for hire plot against his estranged wife’s ex-husband Jared Bridegan.
Fernandez Saldana is charged with first degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony.
How we got here
On Feb. 16, 2022, Bridegan was driving down Sanctuary Boulevard South in Jacksonville Beach with his then-2-year-old daughter Bexley strapped in the backseat, when he approached a tire left in the middle of the road.
Sanctuary Boulevard South is a one-way road. Bridegan had just dropped off his twins whom he shares with his ex-wife Shanna Gardner at Gardner’s house.
Bridegan got out of the car to move the tire, when he was shot several times.
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Bexley was not hurt.
Almost a year later, Henry Tenon was arrested for the murder.
Officials say Gardner and Fernandez Saldana hired Tenon as a hitman.
Court records show Tenon used to live in a house owned by Fernandez Saldana in Northwest Jacksonville.
Tenon entered a guilty plea three months after getting arrested, but he has since withdrawn his plea.
‘Ordinary questions’ for potential jurors
Both Gardner and Tenon will head to trial after Fernandez Saldana.
The state was initially seeking the death penalty for Fernandez Saldana and Gardner but that is now off the table.
During jury selection Monday, the judge asked the jurors some hardship questions.
“‘Do you have a daughter or a son who’s home and requires care?’” said Action News Jax Legal Analyst Dale Carson. “Those are hardship questions.”
Carson said overall, the types of questions the jurors will be asked are very ordinary.
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“They would ask the standard questions, which are, ‘Where are you employed? How long have you lived here?’ Just a variety of ordinary questions that you would want to know about somebody who’s going to be on a jury panel,” Carson said.
During jury selection the judge asked the jurors to separate themselves into two groups.
Members of Group 1 felt like they needed to be heard by the judge about their concerns for being on the jury.
Members of Group 2 believe they are well suited to be on the jury and filled out a questionnaire.
‘250 people is significant’
A total of 250 jurors will be vetted for this trial. Carson said it’s not typical to have that many jurors.
“Two-hundred and fifty people is significant. Ordinarily, it’d be 50. So 200 beyond that are potential for the jury panel. So she’s making absolutely certain, the judge is making absolutely sure that there’s no unfair bias against the defendant or against the prosecution,” Carson said.
Carson said what happens next in the jury selection process is called the voir dire, where both the defense and the state have the 10 peremptory challenges.
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“If I see somebody on the panel that I think is going to be against my client, I look at them and I go their employment, their personal history, those are the kind of questions that they’re asked in the voir dire. I can direct the court to not allow that person to be seated in the jury panel,” Carson said.
There will be 12 jurors selected along with 3-4 alternates.
Jury selection is expected to wrap up on Friday.
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