State v. Santiago

De LUCCIA, J.S.C.

This case raises the question whether a defendant in a criminal trial has been denied rights guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the federal Constitution as well as article I, paragraph 10 of the New Jersey Constitution when, due to inadvertence, confidential and privileged communications between defendant and defense counsel are recorded on the court’s sound recording system.

This issue developed in the following fashion. On April 28, 1993, the court scheduled a hearing on defendant’s motion filed pursuant to R. 3:5-7 seeking to suppress certain evidence seized by the…