State v. Cohen

This appeal requires us to balance the competing interests of a criminal defendant who seeks discovery of materials that go to the essence of the underlying charged offenses, with the public interest in prohibiting the dissemination of the same materials— contraband child pornography. The trial judge fashioned a protective order that, by its terms, provided for defendant’s discovery of the relevant materials but established strict guidelines that limited access and use of the materials. We conclude that while the State of New Jersey’s concerns focus on the possibility of misuse of the…