I was not read my rights...will my case be dismissed?
The simple answer is probably not. Most people believe that a case may be thrown out of court if the police officer does not provide them with their "Miranda warnings" when they are arrested. I am confident that this belief comes from the abundance of television programs that show the Miranda warnings given whenever someone is being arrested.
A Miranda warning is necessary if the police officer interrogates someone and wants to use their responses as evidence. If the police officer fails to give you a Miranda warning, nothing you say in response to the questioning can be used as evidence to convict you. Additionally, under the "fruit of the poisonous tree" rule, if the police officer finds evidence as a result of an interrogation that violates the Miranda rule, that evidence is also inadmissible at trial. For example, if you tell the police officer where a weapon is hidden and it turns out that you gave this information in response to improper questioning, the police officer will not be able to use the weapon as evidence unless the officer can prove that they would have found the weapon without your statements.
