Also known as: fruit of crime · fruits of crime · instrumentality of crime · instrumentalities of crime · criminal forfeiture · proceeds of crime
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Property connected to criminal activity that may be seized pursuant to a warrant. Fruits consist of items obtained or derived from the offense. Instrumentalities are objects employed to perpetrate it.
Federal agents obtained a warrant to search Bob's warehouse after learning he altered serial numbers on stolen phones. Officers seized the entire stock of five hundred devices because altered units could not be distinguished on site from legitimate inventory. The magistrate had authorized seizure of the commingled goods as potential fruits of crime.
After a client confessed to a robbery, the lawyer removed the stolen cash and weapon from the client's apartment. He placed both items in a new safe deposit box to keep them from investigators. The court held that the items remained fruits and instrumentalities of the crime unprotected by privilege.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Officers entered an apartment without a warrant and observed drug ledgers and cash proceeds on a table. They later obtained a valid warrant based on an independent source and seized the items. The court upheld the seizure because the fruits of crime were properly obtained under the later warrant.
A magistrate may authorize seizure of evidence of a crime, contraband or fruits of crime, property designed for use intended for use or used in committing a crime, or a person to be arrested or unlawfully restrained.
Supporting sources
No. The privilege protects only communications. Physical evidence such as stolen money or a weapon used in a robbery remains outside the privilege when an attorney removes or conceals it without lawful justification.
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Only when the assets qualify as property designed for intended for or used in committing the crime. Routine use in lawful operations does not convert standard equipment into seizable instrumentalities.
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Yes when on-site distinction is impractical and probable cause supports a substantial connection between the collection and criminal activity. Officers may seize the whole group and sort later.
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…one. But we allowed the seizure nonetheless because otherwise the occupants of the car could have removed the "instruments or fruits of crime" before the search. Id., at 51, n. 9 . The Court allowed the warrantless seizure to protect the evidence from destruction even though there was no immediate fear that the evidence was in…