Also known as: fruit of the tree doctrine · fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine · fruit of the poisonous tree
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A tax principle that bars a taxpayer from assigning earned income to another person in order to reduce tax liability.
A tax principle that bars a taxpayer from assigning earned income to another person in order to reduce tax liability.
An evidentiary doctrine that requires exclusion of evidence obtained as a direct or indirect result of an unconstitutional search or seizure unless the connection to the primary illegality has become so attenuated as to dissipate the taint.
Harbor officers boarded a docked fishing vessel without a warrant and photographed a manifest listing offshore drop points. They used the manifest to obtain satellite tracking and foreign port-entry records. The captain moved to suppress the records as derivative evidence from the unlawful entry.
An evidentiary doctrine that requires exclusion of evidence obtained as a direct or indirect result of an unconstitutional search or seizure unless the connection to the primary illegality has become so attenuated as to dissipate the taint.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Traffic officers unlawfully opened a glove compartment during a test drive and found a notebook listing storage units. They relied on the notebook to obtain a warrant and seize altered dashboards and titles from the units. The owner moved to suppress the seized items as tainted by the initial search.
Officers conducted an unlawful interrogation that led them to a child's body. Search parties following an independent grid pattern were approaching the same location when the body was found. The defense moved to suppress the body's location and condition as fruit of the interrogation.
Federal agents obtained evidence through a wiretap later found unlawful. Several defendants sought to suppress conversations and derivative documents even though their own homes were not tapped. The court examined whether any defendant had a legitimate privacy interest sufficient to assert the taint.
Agents conducted an unlawful search of one defendant's premises and seized documents implicating multiple co-defendants. The co-defendants moved to suppress the evidence on the ground that it was obtained through a violation of the fourth amendment. The court addressed whether any co-defendant possessed standing to raise the constitutional claim.
Officers obtained an unwarned statement from a suspect in custody. The statement led them to physical evidence and a later warned confession. The defendant moved to suppress both the physical evidence and the second confession as fruits of the initial Miranda violation.
No. The doctrine creates a presumption of exclusion for derivative evidence but permits admission when the connection to the primary illegality has become sufficiently attenuated or when an exception such as independent source or inevitable discovery applies.
Courts examine the temporal proximity between the illegality and the discovery of the evidence, the presence of intervening circumstances, and the flagrancy of the official misconduct.
Yes. The inevitable discovery exception allows admission of evidence that would have been found through lawful procedures independent of the constitutional violation.
It can. When a suspect is released, remains at liberty, and later provides information during a non-custodial interview after proper warnings, the voluntary act may constitute an intervening circumstance that dissipates the taint.
Yes. Only a defendant whose own fourth amendment rights were violated by the initial search or seizure may seek suppression of derivative evidence.
…discovery exception to the exclusionary rule. Williams contends that evidence of the body's location and condition is "fruit of the poisonous tree," i. e. , the "fruit" or product of Detective Leaming's plea to help the child's parents give her "a Christian burial," which this Court had already held equated to interrogation. He…