State v. Jones
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The Supreme Court reversed the order of the trial court directing the State to produce a confidential informant (CI) for a face-to-face interview with Defendant's counsel, holding that because the trial court did not apply the established balancing test before ordering disclosure, remand was required.
The CI in this case relayed the names of two men who broke into a woman's house and assaulted and robbed her and said that a third man, later identified as Defendant, had organized the crimes. Jones sought to interview the CI, and the trial court ordered the State to produce the CI for a face-to-face interview with Defendant's counsel. The State brought this interlocutory appeal. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court's order, holding (1) because a CI's physical appearance during a face-to-face interview reveals the informant's identity, any request for such a meeting triggers the informer's privilege; and (2) because the trial court did not engage in the necessary balancing inquiry to determine whether an exception to nondisclosure was warranted, remand was necessary.
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