People v. Lawton

Gary Lawton was declared a sexually dangerous person and committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections pursuant to the Sexually Dangerous Persons Act (725 ILCS 205/0.01 et seq. (West 2002)). He subsequently petitioned the circuit court of Pike County to obtain relief from that judgment pursuant to section 2 — 1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2— 1401 (West 2002)). As grounds for his petition, Lawson argued, among other things, that he had been denied the effective assistance of counsel. Following a hearing, the circuit court granted Lawton’s petition. The appellate…