Chicago Sun-Times: ‘Secret hearings’ have allowed CPD to keep suspects in custody for more than 48-hour limit

Chicago Sun-Times: ‘Secret hearings’ have allowed CPD to keep suspects in custody for more than 48-hour limit by Andy Grimm and Tim Novak (“Todd S. Pugh, a veteran defense lawyer and member of the board of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he’s never heard of similar hearings taking place in any other jurisdiction. Pugh noted that the 1991 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that established the 48-hour time limit really only mandates that a judge rule on whether a suspect can be held, and while the CPD system appears to clear that low bar, the hearings show only token concern for the detainees’ rights. ‘These are people that are sitting in an interrogation room, and then they’re in front of a judge, and then they go back with the same officers who have been questioning them for some indefinite period of time, and then what happens?’ Pugh said. ‘They haven’t had a chance to talk to a lawyer. No one has explained anything to them. Do they think they’ve been charged? How does that change their response to questioning by police? I would almost rather have a client just remain in the holding cell at the station.'”)