Exceptions to the Fruit of the Poison Tree Doctrine, Essay Example

“The Fruit of the Poison Tree” doctrine is a legal metaphor which refers to evidence procured through illegally obtained information (Hill, 2009). For instance, if a police officer obtained a murder suspect’s car keys by way of an illegal search, used these keys to open the suspect’s car, and then discovered the murder weapon, this evidence would be considered “Fruit of the Poison Tree”. The illegally obtained car keys (the “Poison tree”) would be inadmissible, as would be the case with the murder weapon (the “fruit”). The purpose of this doctrine is to discourage police misconduct during the evidence-gathering process. Nevertheless, there are three exceptions to this rule (Cretacci, 2007).

The first exception is referred to as the “Independent Source” doctrine. In simple terms, if evidence is found independently of the original illegality, it would then be considered admissible in court. According to Cretacci (2007), this exception is well demonstrated in the case of Murray v. United States where police officers originally became aware that Murray was in the possession of a large amount of marijuana by an illegal search. They later seized the marijuana by first procuring a search warrant. The marijuana was considered admissible due to the fact that it was obtained independently of the original illegality.

The second exception – the “Inevitable Discovery” doctrine – refers to situations in which evidence would have been obtained eventually regardless of the prior illegal action on the part of law enforcement. Cretacci (2007) describes the case of Nix vs. Williams whereby police illegally questioned Williams, a murder suspect, regarding the whereabouts of his victim, and the body was found as a result of this illegal questioning. Although the body could have been considered “Fruit of the Poison Tree,” it was not, due to the fact that the police were close to searching the very area where the body was found and it would have been found by police inevitably.

The “Attenuation Exception” is the final exception to the “Fruit of the Poison Tree” doctrine and refers to cases in which the link between the illegal action of police and the eventual obtainment of evidence is weak and, therefore, demonstrates a tenuous causal relationship. The case of Wong Sun demonstrated that a defendant’s voluntary statement to police several days after an unconstitutional arrest was only loosely connected to the illegal arrest and, therefore, admissible (Cretacci, 2007).

“The Fruit of the Poison Tree” doctrine is essential to protecting American citizens by regulating the power of law enforcement. Nevertheless, it is clear that the rule is not hard and fast. There are various exceptions and the court must use discretion in their application.

References

Cretacci, M. (2007). Supreme court case briefs in criminal procedure. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Hill, G., & Hill, K. (2009) Law.com Dictionary. Retrieved May 9, 2009, from http://dictionary.law.com/default2.asp?typed=fruit+of+the+poisonous+tree&type=1&submit1.x=0&submit1.y=0&submit1=Look+up