STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. RAJEEM A. SCOTTÂ (11-04-0648, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), A-5624-13T3

Police searched Terrance D. Harris's home on the morning of November 4, 2010, and seized drugs; State asserted the search was executed under a warrant, defendant claimed the search preceded issuance of the warrant.
The signed warrant bore a handwritten date of November 4, 2010 at 3:30 p.m., suggesting it was signed after the search; trial court found that date was a scrivener's error and the warrant was actually signed on November 3, 2010.
Documentary evidence supporting the trial court’s finding included a courthouse log showing Detective Steven Hadley signed in on November 3 at 3:30 p.m., email exchanges and a draft warrant between Hadley and an assistant prosecutor, and the notarized affidavit of probable cause.
On initial appeal this court affirmed the factual finding that the warrant was issued before the search but remanded for clarification that the trial court had applied the correct burdens regarding warrant validity and to consider whether to reopen the suppression hearing.
On remand the trial court confirmed it applied the correct burdens, declined to reopen the hearing despite new allegations of misconduct against Hadley (who would have asserted his Fifth Amendment right), and again denied suppression; the conviction (guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute) and sentence were affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Validity/timing of warrant	Documentary evidence and corroborating emails show warrant was signed Nov 3 before search	Handwritten date on warrant (Nov 4) indicates warrant issued after search, rendering search warrantless	Court held documentary record proved warrant was signed Nov 3; search lawful under warrant
Burden/presumption of validity	Once issuance shown, warrant presumed valid and burden shifts to defendant to show lack of probable cause or unreasonableness	Trial court may have improperly presumed validity before State proved issuance	Court clarified trial court applied correct burdens: issuance first, then defendant must rebut validity; no reversible error
Motion to reopen suppression hearing (Hadley misconduct)	Not warranted because Hadley would invoke Fifth Amendment and documentary evidence was dispositive	New misconduct charges against Hadley undermine his credibility and warrant a new hearing	Court exercised discretion and denied reopening; no abuse of discretion given Hadley’s refusal to testify and documentary evidence support
Ineffective assistance of counsel	N/A (State)	Counsel was unprepared, caused a truncated hearing, failed to call the signing judge	Court found record did not show counsel’s performance fell below constitutional standards or affected outcome; no relief

State v. Johnson, 193 N.J. 528 (recognizing Fourth Amendment warrant requirement for home searches)
State v. Robinson, 200 N.J. 1 (discussing requirement that State establish a warrant was properly issued before presuming validity)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishing two-part test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
State v. Saavedra, 222 N.J. 39 (standard for appellate review of a trial court’s exercise of discretion)