Defendant pled guilty to 1 count of 1st degree murder and 1 count of residential arson with concurrent 40-year and 10-year sentences. Defendant filed pro se postconviction petition in 2013. Defendant attempted to but was denied leave to file pro se amendment to his petition in 2014, alleging that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request fitness hearing at time of his guilty plea. Illinois Supreme Court's 2015 Castleberry opinion abolished a rule, and did not establish a new rule. Thus, Castleberry decision is applicable to Defendant's case, and Defendant's claim thus attacks his sentence as merely voidable, not void. Postconviction counsel's Rule 651(c ) certificate was facially valid, and record does not positively rebut presumption of reasonableness of postconviction counsel in declining to amend petition to include argument that petition's untimeliness was due to Defendant's mental health. (FITZGERALD SMITH and PUCINSKI, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Postconviction Petitions