Reference no: EM133290694

Assignment:

An anonymous complainant reports that a white male, approximately 6'00" tall, thin build, wearing a red short-sleeve shirt and blue jeans is standing at the corner of Adams Street and Main Street in your city. The anonymous complainant says, "That man is a drug dealer" and immediately hangs up before the police call taker can gather more information. You locate a male matching this description. You walk up to the male, introduce yourself, and explain the nature of the complaint. The male denies being a drug dealer and says that he has never used or possessed drugs before. You do not believe the male, place him under arrest, and search incident to arrest. Inside his right front pants pocket, you locate a small plastic bag with suspect cocaine. You use the discovery of cocaine to support a search warrant for the man's home, which is granted by a judge. The search reveals additional cocaine.

1. Explain how the fruits of the poisonous tree doctrine may apply to this scenario.

2. Consider the exceptions to the search warrant requirement (i.e., Fourth Amendment) that were applied and may have been violated, such as search incident to arrest.

3. Also, consider if probable cause was established in this scenario prior to arrest and in support of the search warrant.