What should I do if I was recently arrested and the officer did not read me my rights?
0
More about your Miranda Rights in Illinois: What should I do if I was recently arrested and the officer did not read me my rights?
Bob: The reality of the matter is things are kind of done differently in Chicago and in Cook County in general. It’s such a busy area, the police are kind of burdened. Kind of a little bit maybe even overwhelmed with the task at hand. There’s a lot of different crime going on. Most police officer are trying to make a legitimate difference. Most of them are honest, kind of, hard working people. And generally they don’t read people their rights. And this shocks a lot of people because they’ve seen it on TV since they were kids. You know, its the first thing that happens when they arrest somebody or place them in custody on television. Doesn’t happen here and I think it doesn’t happen for a few different reasons. I think the main reason, and this is just my own theory, is that when they tell someone, “Do you understand that you have a right to have an attorney present for any questioning? Do you understand that anything you say or do, can and will be used against you in a court of law?” A good amount of those people are going to say, “Wait a minute, what did you say? You know what, I’ll take an attorney. You’re going to provide an attorney free of charge if I can’t afford one? Well alright, bring my attorney here”. So they don’t. And I think they’ve seen cases blow up on them because they didn’t read someone their rights. Is it improper? Absolutely. Is that going to affect your case positively? Absolutely. Is the case going to be thrown out because of that? Probably not. But it is going to have a very positive effect on your case if we can show that. What’s the problem with this? The police officer is going to lie and say that they’ve read you your rights. Just a fact of life. Like I said, welcome to Chicago.