fruit of the poisonous tree

1 9.9

A rule that stops courts from using evidence found illegally

noun

Jargon

: fruto del árbol envenenado

The judge ruled that the evidence obtained from the illegal search was fruit of the poisonous tree and could not be used in court.

Examples

Fruit of the poisonous tree.

Misconduct (2016)
The confessions and any evidence gathered... while Mr. Nunally was present... will all have to be excluded... as "fruit of the poisonous tree."

Fracture (2007)
The lawyer argued that the confession was fruit of the poisonous tree because it was coerced by the police.
In this case, the documents were deemed fruit of the poisonous tree, leading to the dismissal of the charges against the defendant.

Surface Forms

fruit of the poisonous tree singular

fruits of the poisonous tree plural

Morphology

fruit + of + the + poisonous + tree

Although the words 'fruit', 'poisonous' and 'tree' can suggest a metaphor of a harmful result, the phrase refers to a specific legal doctrine about excluding evidence obtained illegally. That specialized courtroom meaning is not directly predictable from the constituent words, so a B1 learner knowing the parts would probably not infer the precise legal sense.

Etymology

Fruit of the poisonous tree uses a simple image: if a tree is poisoned, its fruit will be bad too. So, in law, any evidence that comes from an illegal action is 'poisoned' and is not allowed in court.