If you are facing criminal charges, there is an important legal doctrine you should be aware of. This is known as the fruit of the poisonous tree.
This doctrine addresses mistakes that the police make while gathering evidence. If they violate someone’s rights during a search, this poisons the rest of the tree—meaning any evidence (fruit) gathered during that search is tainted and may not be admissible in court.
How could this happen?
For example, imagine that the police ask for consent to enter your home or business to conduct a search. You do not give them consent, but you ask if they have a search warrant.
The officers do not have a search warrant, and they are frustrated that you will not allow them to perform the search. They simply force their way into the house or business and search anyway.
During this search, the officers are successful. Perhaps they find documentation exposing some type of financial fraud, or maybe they discover illegal drugs and large amounts of cash in the house. Every situation is different, but the search leads them to the evidence they are seeking, and they make an arrest.
However, because that search was illegal, this otherwise incriminating evidence may need to be excluded from the case. The police never should have had access to it in the first place.
Your defense options
As you can imagine, excluding evidence of this magnitude can dramatically impact your defense options during a criminal trial. Be sure you are well aware of all the legal options at your disposal and the steps you will need to take moving forward.