If you are facing criminal charges, one thing to consider while building your defense is how the police gathered evidence against you. In some cases, they may have used improper methods or illegally gathered that evidence. This can mean that it has to be excluded from court.
One doctrine to keep in mind at this time is known as the fruit of the poisonous tree. This helps to define when the prosecution can and cannot use certain evidence. Essentially, evidence gathered after the commission of an illegal act by the police is “poisoned” and generally cannot be admitted into court.
How would this happen?
One way to poison the tree is to conduct an illegal search. Perhaps you are facing weapons charges for being in possession of illegal firearms. A police officer wants to search your house and knocks on the door to ask for your consent. You do not provide your consent and tell them that they can come back with a search warrant.
Instead of going to get the search warrant, the officer pushes their way into your house and performs the search against your wishes. This makes it an illegal search. During the process, they do find illegal firearms in the house. That officer may think that they are going to get an easy conviction against you, but the fruit of the poisonous tree means that any evidence they gathered during that illegal search may have to be excluded, so a conviction is certainly not guaranteed.
Issues like this can be very complex, and it may be beneficial to work with an experienced law firm as you explore your options.