STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT STATE OF LOUISIANA NO. 2025 KW 0619 VERSUS JUAN JOSE RAMOS RIVERA SEPTEMBER 8, 2025 In Re: State of Louisiana, applying for supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. DC-22-03053.

BEFORE : LANIER, WOLFE, AND HESTER, JJ.

STAY LIFTED. WRIT GRANTED. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure article 729.7 permits, as in the instant case, the district attorney to excise from a statement the identifying information of any witness to a crime, if the district attorney believes that the witness’s safety may be compromised by the inclusion of such information. Further, if the information excised by a party includes the substance, or any part thereof, of any written or recorded statement of the witness, that party must provide the excised substance, or any part thereof, to the other party immediately prior to the witness’s testimony at the trial.

La. Code Crim. P. art. 729.7(B). Here, the State redacted information from discoverable documents based on its concern for witness safety. In response, the defendant followed the appropriate procedure by objecting to the redaction in a written motion. Pursuant to La. Code Crim. P. art. 729.7, prior to determining whether or not the redaction should be maintained, the district court must conduct an ex parte proceeding that is to be recorded and maintained under seal, wherein the State must make a prima facie showing why the redacted information should not be disclosed to the defendant. In this matter, the record shows the State was not afforded the opportunity to finish making the requisite showing prior to the ex parte proceeding being halted.

Accordingly, the ruling ordering the State to provide unredacted copies of the police reports in this matter is vacated and this matter is remanded for a reopened hearing in accordance with the dictates of La. Code Crim. P. art. 729.7, et seq. \ OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT (\ Lucha AS uno DEP a CLERK OF COURT We THE COURT