Also known as: fruit of the tree · fruit-of-the-tree · fruit of the poisonous tree · exclusionary rule
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A doctrine requiring exclusion of evidence obtained as a direct or indirect result of an unconstitutional search or arrest. Evidence remains admissible only when obtained by means sufficiently distinguishable from the primary illegality to purge the taint.
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Federal agents installed tracking software on Finn Fletcher's home computer without a warrant and used the resulting data to identify his cloud storage account. They then obtained a warrant based primarily on that data and seized files containing stolen information. The court suppressed the files because the warrant and search flowed directly from the initial unconstitutional intrusion.
Officers conducted an unlawful wiretap on Diego Morales's telephone and learned the location of a storage locker. Using that information they obtained a warrant and seized narcotics inside the locker. The court suppressed the narcotics as fruit of the poisonous tree because the warrant was not sufficiently attenuated from the initial illegality.
Detectives arrested Elena Esposito without probable cause and obtained a confession that revealed the location of a hidden safe. Officers then secured a warrant and recovered documents from the safe. The court excluded the documents because they were obtained by exploiting the unlawful arrest.
Agents entered Forrest Falconer's locked cabin without a warrant and found a log listing rendezvous coordinates. They used the log to obtain a later warrant and seized contraband from the vessel. The court suppressed the contraband because it was obtained by exploiting the initial constitutional violation.
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 connection has become so attenuated as to dissipate the taint, the evidence may be admitted.
Supporting sources
Evidence is admissible under the independent-source rule when it is discovered through a source wholly independent of the initial illegality. The doctrine prevents suppression only when the government can show the evidence would have been obtained regardless of the constitutional violation.
Supporting sources