Defendant was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and vehicular hijacking and sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 30 and 15 years, respectively. The appellate court dismissed his direct appeal for want of jurisdiction. The trial court dismissed his post-conviction petition and defendant appealed, arguing that his post-conviction counsel failed to provide reasonable assistance by not amending the petition to allege ineffective assistance of appellate counsel to avoid forfeiture of defendant’s other post-conviction claims. The appellate court vacated the dismissal of defendant’s petition and remanded for further proceedings on his claim that trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by not filing a notice of appeal from defendant’s conviction. (MIKVA and ODEN JOHNSON, concurring)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Post-Conviction Hearing Act