On Feb. 5, 2018, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a 5-2 decision in State v. Dickerson, limiting the discovery the state must make available to defendants facing a pretrial detention hearing. It is yet another in a series of decisions interpreting New Jersey’s new Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJRA) and the first to discuss discoverability of search warrant affidavits. In so doing, the opinion places what we think is an unnecessary and impractical limit on discovery during this important pretrial phase of a criminal case. For the reasons expressed below, we think that the dissent written by Justice Albin is the better reasoned and reaches a fairer, more practical result.

The defendant, Melvin Dickerson, was arrested at a unisex hair salon where drugs, guns and various documents addressed to Dickerson were seized when a search warrant was executed.  A complaint charging Dickerson with various crimes was issued later that day based on an affidavit stating in part that the arrest was “pursuant to the execution of a search warrant.” The state moved for Dickerson’s pretrial detention, and the main issue on appeal was whether the trial court erred in requiring the state to disclose the search warrant affidavit to the defense for its use at the detention hearing—a holding affirmed by the Appellate Division.