A Darden hearing (from the case of People v. Darden N.Y. 1974) is an exparte proceeding to determine if disclosure of an informer's identity is pertinent for establishing probable cause when there is otherwise insufficient evidence to establish probable cause apart from the police officer's testimony about an informer's communications.
The Brady doctrine is a pretrial discovery rule established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Brady v. Maryland (1963) that requires the prosecution to turn over all exculpatory evidence to the defendant in a criminal case.