Also known as: distinguishable · distinguishably · distinguish · distinguishing
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
Evidence obtained by means sufficiently different in origin or connection from an unconstitutional search or arrest to avoid exclusion under the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine. The connection between the illegality and the evidence must have become so attenuated as to dissipate the taint.
Evidence obtained by means sufficiently different in origin or connection from an unconstitutional search or arrest to avoid exclusion under the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine. The connection between the illegality and the evidence must have become so attenuated as to dissipate the taint.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A name or designation that differs sufficiently from existing names on official records to permit registration or use by a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company. Statutes require such a distinction before issuance of shares of a new class or series or before name registration by a foreign entity.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A name or designation that differs sufficiently from existing names on official records to permit registration or use by a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company. Statutes require such a distinction before issuance of shares of a new class or series or before name registration by a foreign entity.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Police arrest Diego Duarte without probable cause and later obtain a confession after releasing him and allowing several days to pass. The prosecution offers the confession at trial. Because the confession followed an extended period of freedom and intervening events that broke any direct link to the unlawful arrest, the court admits the statement as sufficiently distinguishable from the initial illegality.
Officers conduct an unlawful search of Diana Delgado's apartment and seize documents. Days later, a witness voluntarily provides identical documents to investigators. The court admits the witness-provided documents because they were obtained through a source independent of the illegal search and therefore remain distinguishable from the primary illegality.
Courts examine temporal proximity between the illegality and the evidence, the presence of intervening circumstances, and the flagrancy of official misconduct. When these factors show the taint has dissipated, the evidence becomes admissible even though it would otherwise be excluded.
Supporting sources
Delta Dynamics seeks to issue a second class of shares with special voting rights. Its articles already authorize common stock. The board adopts a new designation labeled Series A Preferred and describes its distinct preferences and limitations before any issuance. The secretary of state accepts the filing because the new designation satisfies the requirement of a distinguishing label for each authorized class or series.
Drake Logistics, a foreign limited liability partnership, applies to register its name in a new state. The secretary of state compares the proposed name against existing records and finds it differs in key words from all unavailable names. The application is approved because the name meets the statutory requirement of being distinguishable on the secretary's records.
Dillon Energy applies to use a name nearly identical to an existing limited liability company. The existing company executes a written consent and promises to change its own name to one that will be distinguishable on state records. The secretary of state authorizes the use because the consent and undertaking satisfy the statutory conditions for an otherwise indistinguishable name.
Delta Dynamics files articles authorizing a new series of preferred shares. The designation uses a unique label and describes distinct rights separate from common stock. The secretary of state accepts the filing because the designation is sufficiently distinguishable under the statute governing class and series authorizations.
The requirement ensures that investors and regulators can identify the precise rights, preferences, and limitations attached to each class or series. Without a unique designation, shares of different classes could not be reliably distinguished on the corporate records.
Supporting sources
Registration is permitted only when the proposed name is distinguishable on the secretary of state's records from names already in use or reserved. Consent from the owner of a similar name, coupled with an undertaking to change that name, can satisfy the distinguishability requirement.
Supporting sources
…imposing it upon the people of the 50 States. Dissenting — Rehnquist, J. The decision here to break pregnancy into three distinguishable terms and to outline the permissible restrictions the State may impose in each one, partakes more of judicial legislation than it does of a determination of the intent of the drafters of…