The fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine is any evidence that was gathered as a result of an illegal search. Also, illegal questioning cannot be used against the individual being searched even if the evidence was gathered lawfully at a later time. The terminology is that the source of the evidence is tainted (which is considered the tree), then the evidence that is gained from the source, is tainted as well (which is the fruit). Although the fruit of the poisonous tree is nothing more than a name and a metaphor, the evidence that is seized from the illegal arrest, search, and questioning by law enforcement symbolizes the poisonous tree. The evidence that is found later because of the information obtained in the initial illegal search, arrest,
