People v. Allen

Defendant Robert Allen appeals from the dismissal of his petition for relief under section 2 — 1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure (the Code) (735 ILCS 5/2 — 1401 (West 2002)). On appeal, defendant contends that: (1) the trial court treated his petition as a postconviction petition and improperly failed to address all of its allegations; (2) alternatively, if the court considered his pleading as a section 2 — 1401 petition, the court lacked the statutory authority to “summarily dismiss” it; and (3) the “summary dismissal” of his section 2 — 1401 petition was not harmless where it presented a…