The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Eng, 997 F.2d 987 (2nd Cir. 1993):
Id. at 1212. Specific to this investigation, the district court noted the short time span between the initiation of the investigation and the illegal search and the degree of investigative activity during that period (i.e., there were no subpoenas lying dormant for months prior to the illegal search as in United States v. Roberts, 852 F.2d 671 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 993, 109 S.Ct. 556, 102 L.Ed.2d 583 (1988)). Thus, the district court concluded that "the government's investigation was in a sufficiently advanced stage to compel the finding that 'alternate means of obtaining the evidence' were 'in existence and, at least to some degree, imminent, if yet unrealized' and that 'the evidence produced by the investigation was simply the normal output of that investigation.' " Eng II, 819 F.Supp. at 1212-13 (quoting Eng I, 971 F.2d at 861). In sum, the district court found, "the evidence supports this court's original conclusion that the tax evasion investigation was neither spurred nor catalyzed by the illegal search." Eng II, 819 F.Supp. at 1212.
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