In the 16th hearing scheduled since Mario Fernandez Saldana’s defense team filed a motion to disqualify the 4th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office from the Jared Bridegan murder case, the judge ruled there will be no change of prosecutors.

Judge London Kite issued her ruling Monday but with some harsh words for the prosecutors’ handling of confidential materials in the case and future guidelines.

They can move forward with seeking the death penalty against Fernandez Saldana and his wife Shanna Gardner in the murder-for-hire death of Gardner’s ex-husband Jared Bridegan in Jacksonville Beach. The 33-year-old was on his way home to St. Augustine after dropping off the twin children he shared custody with Gardner to her and Fernandez Saldana’s home in February 2022. He didn’t get far as he was ambushed on his regular route home.

Henry Arthur Tenon, 63, pleaded guilty to killing Bridegan. He confirmed being the triggerman, but Fernandez Saldana and Gardner are implicated as the masterminds behind the plot. Bridegan and Gardner had a contentious divorce and were still mired in legal matters and custody disputes.

Fernandez Saldana’s attorneys, who were later joined by Gardner’s, cited multiple privileged communications involving the defendants and their attorneys were uploaded by the state into a shared portal called NextPoint that several people had access to before being determined if they were confidential.

Jared Bridegan’s ex: Here’s what Shanna Gardner told police in her first extensive interview after ex’s death

According to the motion, “it is impossible for defense counsel to determine the scope and severity of the breach in confidentiality.”

That state said it was limited to just one or two contested documents and was based on a third-party vendor’s brief oversight.

Murder plot Documents: Here’s what Mario Fernandez Saldana told police in extensive interview after Jared Bridegan death

“The prosecutor, once notified, observed the oversight quickly, and consistent with her ethical duties, contacted the defense teams to alert them to the oversight and immediately disabled the platform to ensure none of the emails or the text were reviewed by anyone,” according to the state’s response. “No one from the prosecution team or the State Attorney’s Office reviewed any privileged emails or texts.”

Throughout the defense continued to argue the integrity of the judicial process has been compromised. The state continued to argue there was no malfeasance involved and prosecutors have worked thousands of hours on this case that no one could replace.

Had the State Attorney’s Office been removed from the case, the governor would have assigned a new circuit.

This story is developing and will be updated.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville judge rules prosecutors can stay on Jared Bridegan trial