The doctrine that addresses evidence obtained from a bad search is called:

• A. Fruit of the Poisoned Tree Doctrine
• B. Arrest
• C. Offense
• D. Contraband

Answer: (A)

When evidence comes from an illegal search or seizure, it is typically barred from use in court to deter unlawful police conduct. This is known as the Fruit of the Poisoned Tree doctrine. The key idea is that not only the initial improperly obtained items are tainted, but also later evidence that flows from that illegality—the “fruits” of the poisoned tree—is usually excluded. The rule helps protect the Fourth Amendment rights by ensuring that violations won’t pay off with usable evidence.

There are important caveats: the taint can sometimes be broken by a valid independent source, by inevitable discovery, or by attenuation (the link between the illegality and the evidence has sufficiently weakened). If none of these exceptions applies, the evidence and its derivative fruits stay out.

The other terms listed—such as arrest, offense, or contraband—refer to actions, crimes, or goods, not to a doctrine about admissibility of evidence.