Also known as: fruits of crime · instrumentalities of crime · evidence of crime · fruits of the crime · instrumentality of crime
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Categories of property that a search warrant may authorize officers to seize. These include contraband, proceeds derived from criminal activity, tools or objects used to commit an offense, and documents or data that tend to prove criminal conduct occurred.
Agent Rivera receives a detailed tip from a reliable informant describing how Felicia Fuentes stores proceeds from a fraud scheme in a specific office safe. The magistrate issues a warrant after applying the totality-of-the-circumstances test to the tip. Officers execute the warrant and seize the cash inside the safe.
Federal agents obtain a warrant for the servers at Falcon Dynamics after showing probable cause that the machines host malware used to commit cyber fraud. The warrant expressly lists the servers as property designed for use in committing the offense. Agents seize the servers during the search.
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Defense counsel removes cash and a weapon from Felipe Figueroa's apartment and places them in a new safe deposit box. The court later orders production of the items because they constitute physical fruits and instrumentalities of the crime. Counsel faces sanctions for the concealment.
A warrant may authorize seizure of contraband, fruits of crime, other illegally possessed items, property designed for or used in committing a crime, and evidence of a crime.
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No. The privilege covers only communications. Physical fruits and instrumentalities of crime remain subject to seizure even when an attorney has taken possession of them.
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Yes. Documentary evidence of crime is a proper object of a warrant when the application shows probable cause and describes the records with particularity.
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