People v. Smallwood

Defendant appealed from the trial court’s dismissal of his petition for relief pursuant to section 2-1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure in which he argued that his sentence of mandatory life was unconstitutional as applied to him. The appellate court affirmed, finding that defendant failed to sufficiently plead and prove how his mental illness rendered him less culpable of his crime or that treatment would allow him to achieve rehabilitation and that he had ample opportunity to develop this evidence. (CATES and McHANEY, concurring)