This Tree Bears Plenty of Poisonous Fruit

For those of you who do not have much of a legal background, I am going to take the space to explain something about the law to you. For those that are legally astute, feel free to skip this part and move further down in this post where the crux of the matter lies.

There is a legal concept that is going to come into play, courtesy of Boosh, who chose to admit to wiretapping and watching emails from private citizens without bothering to spend the time necessary to get approval from the FISA court. It is known simply as the "fruit of the poisonous tree" clause. An example is probably the best way to explain this. The following comes from an actual case, although I was not the subject.

Say I (Cyclone) am a serial bank robber who killed a security guard during one of the holdups. The FBI finally finds some snitch to rat me out, and they are coming to arrest me. They bang on my door, my friend opens the door and they immediately put a gun to his or her head and order him or her to the floor. I am in another room and they come and yank me out of my bed. They throw me in the floor, my friend and I are both handcuffed and they tell me that they know that I am the bank robber that they are after. They tell me that they are going to search my apartment, and I can either consent to the search or they will get a warrant, but either way they are going to search. They ask if I understand, and I say that although I have been drinking, I guess I understand, and sign a consent form that allows them to search. During the search they find no money, but in my closet they find the weapon that later turns out to be the one that killed the security guard. It seems that they have got me cold. They've got the weapon, it was under my full control at the time that they found it, so I am charged with Murder, along with a bunch of bank robberies.

Then my lawyer goes to work, and the "fruit of the poisonous tree" comes into play. This concept is very simple. Anything that is found during an illegal search is considered "the fruit of the poisonous tree" and a prosecutor cannot enter any of it into evidence against me. Case law states over and over that obtaining consent to search by threat of getting a warrant is actually not getting consent, because the consent is not "voluntary." Because the FBI did not bother to take the time necessary to get a proper warrant, the gun is out and so is the case against me. Without the gun, and without the money, the charges are dismissed. I'm free. End of story.

The Boosh Wiretap Order
The reason that I point this out is that you are going to be hearing a lot about this in the near future. In fact, you may have already heard a snippet of information about this subject. Now that Boosh has admitted to the world that he authorized spying on terror suspects and anyone that they may have come into contact with, (I'm being kind to Boosh here, it could well be any of us) you are going to see courts flooded with motions to suppress evidence in all terrorism cases that are currently pending, as well as demands for new trials from those who have already been convicted. One attoryne of a previoulsy convicted subject has already stated that he could never put together how his client's name ever came up to begin with. Well, now he can, courtesy of Boosh.

Because Boosh chose to circumvent the FISA court, the court that requires so little to grant a warrant that it is nearly a government "okay" rubber stamp, he has opened for review every "terrorism" case that has been prosecuted since 2001. And, it will be a mess. None of this wiretap information was passed on to defense attorneys or even to the judges in the trials, violating the rights of defendants to present a defense. And that's a real problem. We have a thing in American law called "discovery," put in place so that a defendant can know what evidence the prosecution has against him or her. Discovery to defense attorneys is much more limited in Federal Cases than State Cases, but the Federal Court Judges certainly expect to be informed of what evidence exists and where it came from. In these wiretap cases, it seems that the Federal Court Judges have been blindsided.

Why?

Why would Boosh decide on his own to circumvent the FISA court, the easiest court in the world to get a warrant from? So easy, in fact, that you can request the warrant after the wiretapping or spying occurs? I'm not sure that there is a perfect answer to that question, although we are getting closer. One reason is, without a doubt, sheer arrogance on the part of this administration, especially Boosh himself. You know, it's War Time and all of that broken record nonsense. Another, more troubling answer, is beginning to come out. It seems that Boosh has met some resistance from the FISA court in obtaining some warrants, moreso than any President or administration in power since the court was established. If someone has a problem getting the okay from the FISA court, you can rest assured that in a legal proceeding in any other forum, the evidence would be laughed out of court. This tells me that Boosh has gone way over the line with his wiretapping and general snooping on people, way beyond what anyone has imagined possible to this point. In attempting to use the twisted logic of Boosh, I'm sure that he thinks that courts are just another bureaucratic pain in the ass that he doesn't need approval from, because he has a war to fight. He has gone from "screw the American people" to "screw the Court." He is above the law, as long as he can place it under the umbrella of the "war on terror." Well, the courts may just decide to "just say no to Boosh." Judges, especially of the Federal variety, don't like to be told that they are insignificant.

Did Boosh Break the Law?

In my mind, it is clear that Boosh broke the law by authorizing the NSA to conduct wiretapping and intercepting or interrupting and reading emails. Most legal scholars agree with me. But, given the "fruit of the poisonous tree," I'm not sure that it even matters now. Once these cases begin to be reviewed, these defendants or people up on appeal will find out whether or not any information planned to be used against them, or that was used to convict them, came from these wiretaps. If so, all evidence that came from that search (phone conversation or email) will be tossed. And, should that evidence lead to another person, presumably the reason for doing it in the first place, that person will cease to exist in the eyes of the court. Boosh and his clan will scream from the rooftops that "National Security" requires that this information be kept from the view of the public, and that argument may well fly. But, when they argue that the accused or convicted have no right to know this information, Judges will step in and demand to at least review the information In Camera. (In Camera simply means that the Judge alone will review the material and determine it's value) They will likely be horrified at what they see.

Where Are We Now?

Boosh has finally managed to bite himself in the ass. Through his power hungry, holier than thou, insane idea that he is the Potentate and can do whatever he damn well pleases is about to be derailed by the legal system. You will soon see a whole bunch of people, both charged and uncharged, released from custody. Not only that, you will see convictions overturned on some people who have already been convicted of terrorist activities. It is inevitable. The ironic thing about all of this is that Boosh claims that all he does is done to "protect the American people from the terrorists." By breaking the law, or at a minimum failing to follow the rules of the easiest court in the land, he may well have given "Get out of Jail Free" cards to some people who actually are terrorists. Is that the type of "Protection" that you had in mind?

I told you all that this was going to be big. It now looks like it's going to be bigger than even I thought. Boosh is our worst nightmare, and may well, in the end, be aiding the terrorists rather than protecting us by choosing to ignore simple laws. Laws that were put in place to prevent a madman like him from having unfettered power. All while stripping us non-terrorist Americans of our own constitutional rights. Simply amazing.