People v. Kimmons

Defendant appealed from first stage dismissal of his pro se postconviction petition arguing that the trial court erred in dismissing the petition for being untimely and that his conviction stated the gist of a constitutional claim that defendant’s plea counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to file a motion challenging the warrant to search defendant’s resident. The appellate court affirmed, finding that while the dismissal on timeliness grounds was an error, the defendant waived his claim that plea counsel was ineffective when he pled guilty. Justice Hutchinson dissented and contended that the petition should have advanced to a second stage analysis. (BRENNAN, concurring and HUTCHINSON, dissenting)