People v. Britt-El

The defendant, Vincent Britt-El, filed a second post-conviction petition along with a “Motion For Leave To File Second Post-Conviction Petition” in the circuit court of Vermilion County. The circuit court denied the motion as “untimely” and did not consider the merits of defendant’s petition. On appeal, the appellate court treated the circuit court’s ruling as a summary dismissal of defendant’s post-conviction petition and affirmed. The appellate court held that defendant’s petition was an improper, successive petition that was not permitted under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (725…