Crim Pro 2020 Identifying the Poisonous Tree PDF

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Identifying the Poisonous Tree...

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Criminal Procedure Fall 2020 [2] Identifying the Poisonous Tree · The fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine applies to constitutional provisions other than the Fourth Amendment, i.e., there are Fifth Amendment and Sixth Amendment poisonous trees, as well. On the other hand, there is no or only a very limited Miranda poisonous tree doctrine. Therefore, it can be critical to identify the nature of the poisonous tree. o For example, suppose that D is arrested without probable cause, informed of his Miranda rights, voluntarily waives those rights, and confesses. The confession is not inadmissible under the Fifth and Sixth Amendment, or Miranda principles. Nonetheless, the confession could be inadmissible as a fruit of a Fourth Amendment poisonous tree (the unlawful arrest). o On the other hand, suppose that D is lawfully arrested, not informed of his Miranda rights, and subjected to custodial interrogation, during which time he informs the police where he concealed a gun used in the crime. Here, D’s confession is inadmissible under Miranda principles. The gun is a fruit of that Miranda violation. Therefore, its admissibility is a matter of Miranda jurisprudence – which ordinarily permits fruits of Miranda violations to be introduced at trial – and not of Fourth Amendment law. o The lesson to be grasped: Be clear as to the nature of the “poisonous tree,” i.e. the constitutional violation that constitutes the initial illegality. [C] Independent Source Doctrine · The threshold issue in any fruit of the poisonous tree claim should be whether “the challenged evidence is in some sense the product of illegal government activity.” Evidence that is not casually linked to governmental illegality is admissible pursuant to the “independent source doctrine.” · Such evidence, in essence, is a fruit of a non-poisonous tree. The interest of society in deterring unlawful police conduct and the public interest in having juries receive all probative evidence of a crime are properly balanced by putting the po-

lice in the same, not a worse position that they would have been in absent any error or violation.

· In the simplest application, the independent source doctrine applies if the challenged evidence is discovered for the first time during lawful police activity. · The independent source doctrine also applies, however, if evidence is initially discovered unlawfully, but is later obtained lawfully in a manner independent of the original discovery....