People v. Arias

The petitioner, John Arias, appeals the Will County circuit court’s dismissal of his petition for postconviction relief after it determined that his petition did not include sufficient facts from which the circuit court could conclude that the petitioner made a valid claim of deprivation of a constitutional right and, thus, his petition was patently without merit. 725 ILCS 5/122 — 2.1(a)(2) (West 1994). On appeal, the petitioner contends that the circuit court erred in dismissing his petition. In response, the State argues that the petition was properly dismissed because it was untimely and…