People v. Ryburn

In July 2004, defendant, Thomas V Ryburn, filed a petition under section 2 — 1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2 — 1401 (West 2002)), seeking to set aside his multiple October 1999 guilty pleas. In August 2004, the trial court sua sponte dismissed defendant’s petition as frivolous and without merit.

Defendant appeals, arguing that (1) his guilty pleas are void because the trial court’s imposition of certain fines violated the guilty-plea agreement and (2) the court erred by sua sponte dismissing his section 2 — 1401 petition. We disagree and affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In October 1998,…