People v. Clemons

Defendant appealed from the trial court’s denial of his petition for post-judgment relief under section 2-1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Defendant argued on appeal that his due process rights were violated when the trial court dismissed his petition without giving him an opportunity to respond and when the trial court recharacterized his petition as a petition for post-conviction relief without admonishing him or giving him the opportunity to withdraw his petition. The appellate court vacated and remanded for further proceedings finding that the trial court either improperly recharacterized the petition without providing defendant the required protections or did not intend to recharacterize the petition but incorrectly referred to it as a post-conviction petition. (C.A. WALKER, concurring and TAILOR, dissenting)