A Du Page County jury convicted this defendant and approved the death penalty, and the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed in 1990. An initial post-conviction petition filed by the offender was dismissed by the circuit court, and that dismissal was affirmed by the supreme court in 1995. The present decision is rendered in connection with the second post-conviction petition filed by the offender. The circuit court had dismissed it without an evidentiary hearing. The supreme court held that the circuit court did not follow the proper procedures for handling the post-conviction petition, treating it as a noncapital rather than a capital case.
Statute makes special provisions for capital cases.
The cause was remanded for further proceedings in compliance with statute. No opinion was expressed on other issues raised by the offender or on the propriety of a second post-conviction petition in these circumstances.