On tv, whenever someone gets arrested, they police always read the person their rights, but I was never read my rights. Is this important? Will it result in my case being dismissed?

A: You are right - more often than not when someone is arrested on tv, the cop automatically starts to "read the person his/her rights" - telling the arrested person about the right to remain silent, how anything said can be used against him/her later, about the right to have an attorney present during questioning, etc.  However, police officers are not required to give these Miranda warnings immediately upon arresting someone, and the failure of the police to do so does not result in a case being dismissed.  Simply stated, the rule to remember is that if you were interrogated by the police, after being taken into custody, and you were not given these Miranda warnings, your statements can not be used against you.  Although the majority of incriminating statements in a Virginia DUI / DWI case come before the suspect is taken into custody, there are many situations where this issue still arises in the defense of drunk driving cases. 

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