(1)Discovery by the Defendant. Except for good cause shown, the prosecutor's discovery for each defendant named in the indictment shall be provided by the prosecutor's office upon the return or unsealing of the indictment. Good cause shall include, but is not limited to, circumstances in which the nature, format, manner of collation or volume of discoverable materials would involve an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort to copy. In such circumstances, the prosecutor may make discovery available by permitting defense counsel to inspect and copy or photograph discoverable materials at the prosecutor's office, rather than by copying and delivering such materials. The prosecutor shall also provide defense counsel with a listing of the materials that have been supplied in discovery. If any discoverable materials known to the prosecutor have not been supplied, the prosecutor shall also provide defense counsel with a listing of the materials that are missing and explain why they have not been supplied. If the defendant is represented by the public defender, defendant's attorney shall obtain a copy of the discovery from the prosecutor's office prior to the arraignment. However, if the defendant has retained private counsel, upon written request of counsel submitted along with a copy of counsel's entry of appearance and received by the prosecutor's office prior to the date of the arraignment, the prosecutor shall, within three business days, send the discovery to defense counsel either by U.S. mail at the defendant's cost or by e-mail without charge, with the manner of transmittal at the prosecutor's discretion.
If the defendant is unrepresented at the prearraignment conference, a copy of the discovery shall be provided to defense counsel upon request as provided for in the preceding paragraph, or at the arraignment/status conference, which shall occur no later than 28 days after the return or unsealing of the indictment.
A defendant who does not seek discovery from the State shall so notify the prosecutor, and the defendant need not provide discovery to the State pursuant to sections (b)(2) or (f), except as required by Rule 3:12-1 or otherwise required by law.
Discovery shall include exculpatory information or material. It shall also include, but is not limited to, the following relevant material:
(A) books, tangible objects, papers or documents obtained from or belonging to the defendant, including, but not limited to, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, video and sound recordings, images, electronically stored information, and any other data or data compilations stored in any medium from which information can be obtained and translated, if necessary, into reasonably usable form;(B) records of statements or confessions, signed or unsigned, by the defendant or copies thereof, and a summary of any admissions or declarations against penal interest made by the defendant that are known to the prosecution but not recorded. The prosecutor also shall provide the defendant with transcripts of all electronically recorded statements or confessions by a date to be determined by the trial judge, except in no event later than 30 days before the trial date set at the pretrial conference.(C) results or reports of physical or mental examinations and of scientific tests or experiments made in connection with the matter or copies thereof, which are within the possession, custody or control of the prosecutor;(D) reports or records of prior convictions of the defendant;(E) books, papers, documents, or copies thereof, or tangible objects, buildings or places which are within the possession, custody or control of the prosecutor, including, but not limited to, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, video and sound recordings, images, electronically stored information, and any other data or data compilations stored in any medium from which information can be obtained and translated, if necessary, into reasonably usable form;(F) names, addresses, and birthdates of any persons whom the prosecutor knows to have relevant evidence or information including a designation by the prosecutor as to which of those persons may be called as witnesses;(G) record of statements, signed or unsigned, by such persons or by co-defendants which are within the possession, custody or control of the prosecutor and any relevant record of prior conviction of such persons. The prosecutor also shall provide the defendant with transcripts of all electronically recorded co-defendant and witness statements by a date to be determined by the trial judge, except in no event later than 30 days before the trial date set at the pretrial conference, but only if the prosecutor intends to call that co-defendant or witness as a witness at trial.(H) police reports that are within the possession, custody, or control of the prosecutor;(I) names and addresses of each person whom the prosecutor expects to call to trial as an expert witness, the expert's qualifications, the subject matter on which the expert is expected to testify, a copy of the report, if any, of such expert witness, or if no report is prepared, a statement of the facts and opinions to which the expert is expected to testify and a summary of the grounds for each opinion. If this information is not furnished 30 days in advance of trial, the expert witness may, upon application by the defendant, be barred from testifying at trial; (J) all records, including notes, reports and electronic recordings relating to an identification procedure, as well as identifications made or attempted to be made; and(K) the name of any jailhouse informant whom the prosecutor expects to call as a witness at trial. A jailhouse informant for the purposes of this subsection is defined as a person who lacks firsthand knowledge of a defendant's alleged criminal conduct but offers to testify for the State at a trial or hearing that the informant heard the defendant make inculpatory statements while detained or incarcerated in the same facility as the informant. The prosecutor also shall provide the known criminal history of the jailhouse informant, including any pending charges; any records of statements allegedly made by the defendant and heard by the jailhouse informant and, to the extent known, the time, location and manner of their alleged disclosure(s) to the jailhouse informant; any information relevant to the jailhouse informant's credibility as required to be disclosed by law or rule, including but not limited to any consideration or promises made to, or sought by, the jailhouse informant, in exchange for truthful testimony; any prior recantation known to the prosecution in which the jailhouse informant recanted the defendant's statement, to include the time, location and manner of any such recantation; and the case name and jurisdiction of any criminal case known to the prosecutor in which the jailhouse informant testified, or in a case in which the prosecutor intended to have the informant testify, about statements made by another suspect or criminal defendant while detained or incarcerated, and whether the jailhouse informant was offered or received any benefit in exchange for, or subsequent to, such actual or intended testimony. When the prosecutor intends to call a jailhouse informant as a witness at trial, the prosecutor shall conduct a search or cause an inquiry to be made of any and all record-keeping systems or centralized databases in which jailhouse informant information is maintained, including but not limited to those established by the Attorney General and each County Prosecutor.