N.J. Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner/photo by Carmen Natale

The New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday reiterated the mandate that prosecutors must release all exculpatory information to criminal defendants before pretrial hearings, and set guidelines for situations in which judges should reopen detention proceedings.

In a unanimous ruling in State v. Hyppolite, the court said a defendant facing a murder trial—and who was ordered held without bail pending that trial—should be afforded a new detention hearing because his attorney was not initially provided with conflicting witness statements.

Had defendant Shaquan Hyppolite's attorney been provided with that evidence, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote for the court, Hyppolite might have been released before trial under the state's Criminal Justice Reform Act.

The court ordered a new detention hearing for Hyppolite.

“If there is a reasonable possibility that the result of the detention hearing would have been different had the evidence been disclosed, the hearing should be reopened,” Rabner said. “To craft and present arguments for release, defendants are entitled to all exculpatory evidence before the hearing.”

Hyppolite was arrested on March 29, 2017, in connection with the shooting death of Terrel Smith, whose body was found lying in the street in the Lafayette Gardens section of Jersey City, according to the ruling.

At the pretrial detention hearing, prosecutors gave Hyppolite's attorney a statement from a witness identifying Hyppolite as the shooter. A judge ordered Hyppolite held without bail pending trial. Days later, prosecutors revealed that the witness had given an earlier statement in which the witness had said he could not identify the shooter, the court said.

Hyppolite's attorney moved for another pretrial detention hearing. A judge said Hyppolite should have been given all of the exculpatory material, but added that it would not have changed the ultimate outcome, and thus refused to reopen the hearing.

A grand jury indicted Hyppolite on murder and weapons charges two months later, and he remains in jail pending the outcome of a newly ordered detention hearing.

Rabner said the court acknowledged that in the practical world, investigations can remain ongoing after an arrest is made and a detention hearing is held. However, he added that information gleaned before the hearing is held should be turned over to the defendant.

“The requirement to turn over exculpatory evidence before a detention hearing is grounded in the state's affirmative obligation to disclose evidence favorable to a defendant,” Rabner said.

To that end, Rabner said, judges should adopt a “modified materiality standard” when deciding whether to reopen a detention hearing.

“Judges should determine whether there is a reasonable possibility—not probability—that the result of the hearing would have been different had the evidence been disclosed,” Rabner said. “The burden is on the state to demonstrate that a new hearing is not required under that standard.”

Neither Hyppolite's attorney on the appeal, Assistant Deputy Public Defender Elizabeth Jarit, nor officials from the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, who prosecuted the case, responded to requests for comment on the ruling.