People v. Ceja

This case is before us on defendant Raul C. Ceja’s motion for summary remand. Defendant contends that the trial court improperly dismissed his petition under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (725 ILCS 5/122 — 1 et seq. (West 2006)). We agree, and, for the reasons that follow, we vacate and remand.

A summary of the proceedings up until this point in the litigation would be helpful in understanding our disposition of this appeal. Hence, we set forth the following. After a jury trial in 1999, defendant was convicted of first-degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9 — 1 (West 1998)). On April 17, 1999, he…