United States v. Prebish
United States v. Prebish
Opinion of the Court
ORDER ON MOTION TO POSTPONE “POISONOUS TREE” HEARING
On September 20, 1968, this Court entered its Order granting certain motions to suppress defendants’ testimony given before the Grand Jury, 290 F.Supp. 268. The constant companion to an order of suppression is that botanical phenomenon, the “poison fruit tree.” The defendants urge that a large portion of the evidence the government intends to use at trial is not admissible by reason of its origin in the suppressed grand jury testimony. Defendants seek a pretrial hearing to determine the purity of this government evidence. Quite naturally, the government opposes a pretrial poisonous tree hearing for tactical reasons and moves that the hearing be held subsequent to trial. The time at which such hearing shall be held is within this court’s discretion. Nardone v. United States, 308 U.S. 338, 342, 60 S.Ct. 266, 268, 84 L.Ed. 307 (1939).
There are many advantages to postponing the poisonous tree hearing until after trial. These have been definitively enumerated by Judge Herlands of the Southern District of New York in a well written opinion. United States v. Birrell, 269 F.Supp. 716 (1967). In that case a motion to suppress had been granted and the constitutional purity of the government’s prospective trial proof was questioned. In holding that a poisonous tree hearing would be held after trial the Court cited
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Harry W. PREBISH
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published