People Ex Rel. Fisher v. Carey

The majority states that the public defender is not entitled to cause a subpoena duces tecum to be served upon the police department to obtain police reports until he first has moved for production under the Supreme Court discovery rules. Because Supreme Court Rule 411 provides that discovery procedures “shall not be operative prior to or in the course of any preliminary hearing” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 110A, par. 411), the majority consequently denies arrested persons the right to obtain police reports until they have been formally charged with an offense. This opinion deprives arrested…