15. If I Answer Police Questions Even After I'm Given the Miranda Warning, Is It Ever Possible to Exclude What I Say?
Under some circumstances, yes. If the police induce a suspect to speak because of
illegalbehavior engaged in by the police, the suspect's statements may be
excluded under the fruit of the
poisonous tree doctrine. For instance, assume that the police induce a suspect to confess by confronting the suspect with objects the police seized during an
illegal search. (For more on search and seizure, see Chapter 2.) If
seeing the
illegally seized objects induced the suspect to confess, a judge may throw out the
confession as the fruit of the
poisonous tree (the
illegal search), even if the police first gave the Miranda
warning.
More About Poisonous Fruit
The "fruit of the
poisonous tree" rule prevents police officers and prosecutors from
indirectly benefiting from
improper searches and interrogations. The rule provides that if police find out about evidence as the result of an
illegal search or interrogation, a judge can bar a prosecutor from using the evidence at trial. (Wong Sun v. United States, U.S. Sup. Ct. 1963.) The fruit of the
poisonous tree doctrine removes what would otherwise be a big
incentive for police officers to conduct
illegal searches and interrogations.
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