{
  "id": 3621606,
  "name": "THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellee, v. MILDRED LAUGHARN, Appellant",
  "name_abbreviation": "People v. Laugharn",
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    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellee, v. MILDRED LAUGHARN, Appellant."
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "JUSTICE FREEMAN\ndelivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.\nChief Justice Fitzgerald and Justices Thomas, Kilbride, Garman, Karmeier, and Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion.\nOPINION\nPetitioner, Mildred Laugharn, petitioned for post-judgment relief pursuant to section 2 \u2014 1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2 \u2014 1401 (West 2004)) in the circuit court of Morgan County. The circuit court, sua sponte, dismissed her petition because it was untimely, and a divided panel of the appellate court affirmed. No. 4 \u2014 04\u20140846 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23) {Laugharn I). In exercise of our supervisory authority, we vacated the judgment of the appellate court and remanded the cause for further consideration in light of People v. Vincent, 226 Ill. 2d 1 (2007). A majority of the appellate court again affirmed. 378 Ill. App. 3d 981 {Laugharn II). We granted defendant\u2019s petition for leave to appeal. 210 Ill. 2d R. 315. For the reasons which follow, we vacate the judgments of the appellate court and the circuit court, and remand this cause to the circuit court for further proceedings.\nBACKGROUND\nLaugharn was convicted in 1996 of the first degree murder of her husband, and she was sentenced to 28 years\u2019 incarceration. The conviction was affirmed. People v. Laugharn, 297 Ill. App. 3d 807 (1998). Laugharn filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (725 ILCS 5/122 \u2014 1 et seq. (West 1998)). This petition was dismissed in July 1999, and that judgment was affirmed. No. 4 \u2014 99\u20140592 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).\nOn August 24, 2004, Laugharn filed the instant pro se petition pursuant to section 2 \u2014 1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2 \u2014 1401 (West 2004)). She alleged that, since the time of her direct appeal, she discovered that \u201ccertain evidence was either withheld from the trial or at the time not known by the court or [Laugharn], but has a direct bearing\u201d on her case, and listed several grounds to support her assertion.\nOn September 2, 2004, the circuit court sua sponte dismissed that petition for being untimely. The docket entry states: \u201cWithout *** addressing the insufficiency of *** the petition, the court finds that the petition was filed far beyond the two-year limitation as required in 735 ILCS 5/2 \u2014 1401(c) and therefore the petition is dismissed.\u201d\nA majority of the appellate court affirmed the dismissal, holding that circuit courts have \u201cthe authority to sua sponte dismiss section 2 \u2014 1401 petitions based on their inherent authority to control their courtrooms and their dockets.\u201d\nJustice Cook dissented. He was troubled that Laugharn had not been afforded notice and the opportunity to respond. Justice Cook noted that section 2 \u2014 1401 includes several exceptions which toll the two-year time period in which a petition must be filed, and suggested that, had the circuit court initially allowed Laugharn to amend, either she could have provided an acceptable explanation for the delay, or the court could have quickly disposed of the claim absent an adequate explanation.\nWe initially denied Laugharn\u2019s petition for leave to appeal, but ordered the appellate court to reconsider its ruling in light of Vincent. On remand, the appellate court again affirmed, and Justice Cook again dissented. 378 Ill. App. 3d 981 (Laugharn II)- The majority concluded that Vincent did not compel a different result (378 Ill. App. 3d at 982), while Justice Cook found the case distinguishable (378 Ill. App. 3d at 983 (Cook, J., dissenting)).\nANALYSIS\nLaugharn contends that the circuit court\u2019s sua sponte dismissal of her section 2 \u2014 1401 petition, solely on the basis of timeliness, was improper. The State counters that Laugharn has forfeited this argument by failing to raise this specific allegation in the appellate court. The State asserts that this court has already rejected Laugharn\u2019s contention in Vincent, and, because the appellate majority properly applied Vincent, its judgment should be affirmed.\nLaugharn acknowledges that the appellate court did not expressly hold that an untimely petition may be sua sponte dismissed. She contends, instead, that because the circuit court dismissed her petition for untimeliness, the appellate court\u2019s holding necessarily includes the more narrow holding that untimely petitions are subject to sua sponte dismissal. We agree.\nThe issue of the timeliness of the petition was before the appellate court. In fact, there was nothing else before that court to review other than Laugharn\u2019s pro se petition and the circuit court\u2019s docket entry, which left no doubt that the single ground for the dismissal was the circuit court\u2019s determination that the petition was untimely. Laugharn\u2019s argument has not been forfeited.\nWe review the dismissal of a section 2 \u2014 1401 petition de novo. Vincent, 226 Ill. 2d at 18.\nSection 2 \u2014 1401 allows for relief from final judgments more than 30 days after their entry, provided the petition proves by a preponderance of evidence certain elements. See 735 ILCS 5/2 \u2014 1401 (West 2004); Smith v. Airoom, Inc., 114 Ill. 2d 209, 220-21 (1986) (identifying existence of meritorious defense and diligence in both the original action and the collateral proceeding as elements). A section 2 \u2014 1401 petition \u201cmust be filed not later than 2 years after the entry of the order or judgment.\u201d 735 ILCS 5/2 \u2014 1401(c) (West 2004). However, the time period during which the person seeking relief is \u201cunder legal disability or duress\u201d or where \u201cthe ground for relief is fraudulently concealed\u201d is to be \u201cexcluded in computing the period of 2 years.\u201d 735 ILCS 5/2 \u2014 1401(c) (West 2004).\nLaugharn filed her pro se petition with the circuit court on August 24, 2004. Seven court days later, on September 2, 2004, the circuit court entered its sua sponte dismissal order. The circuit court\u2019s sua sponte dismissal of defendant\u2019s petition before the conclusion of the usual 30-day period to answer or otherwise plead was premature and requires vacatur of the dismissal order. While Vincent allows for sua sponte dismissals of section 2 \u2014 1401 petitions, it did not authorize such action prior to the expiration of the 30-day period. Vincent, 226 Ill. 2d at 5. In Vincent, the State\u2019s failure to answer the petition within the time for doing so resulted in \u201can admission of all well-pleaded facts,\u201d which rendered the petition \u201cripe for adjudication.\u201d Vincent, 226 Ill. 2d at 10.\nLaugharn\u2019s petition, in contrast, was not \u201cripe for adjudication.\u201d Only seven days had passed since its filing. The circuit court\u2019s dismissal short-circuited the proceedings and deprived the State of the time it was entitled to answer or otherwise plead. Section 2 \u2014 1401 requires that notice be given as provided by rule. 735 ILCS 5/2 \u2014 1401(b) (West 2004). Rule 106 governs the methods of notice to be used for petitions filed pursuant to section 2 \u2014 1401 and provides that \u201c[njotice of the filing of a petition under section 2 \u2014 1401 *** shall be given by the same methods provided in Rule 105.\u201d 134 Ill. 2d R. 106. In turn, Rule 105(a) contains several requirements to be set forth in the notice, including that the responding party must \u201cfile[ ] an answer or otherwise file[ ] an appearance in the office of the clerk of the court within 30 days after service, receipt by certified or registered mail, or the first publication of the notice, as the case may be, exclusive of the day of service, receipt or first publication.\u201d 134 Ill. 2d R. 105(a). See also Vin cent, 226 Ill. 2d at 17 n.5 (noting the various types of responsive motions that have been applied to section 2 \u2014 1401 proceedings).\nAccordingly, we vacate the judgments of the appellate court and the circuit court, and remand this cause to the circuit court for further proceedings in accord with this opinion. We express no opinion on the merits of the argument raised by defendant.\nCONCLUSION\nFor the foregoing reasons, the judgments of the appellate court and the circuit court are vacated. This cause is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.\nJudgments vacated; cause remanded.\nHowever, where a petitioner seeks to vacate a final judgment as being void (735 ILCS 5/2 \u2014 1401(f) (West 2004)), the allegations of voidness \u201csubstitute! ] for and negate! ] the need to allege a meritorious defense and due diligence.\u201d Sarkissian v. Chicago Board of Education, 201 Ill. 2d 95, 104 (2002). See also Vincent, 226 Ill. 2d at 7 n.2 (same).",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "JUSTICE FREEMAN"
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Michael J. Pelletier, State Appellate Defender, Gary R. Peterson, Deputy Defender, and Arden J. Lang, Assistant Defender, of the Office of the State Appellate Defender, of Springfield, for appellant.",
      "Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, of Springfield, and Chris Reif, State\u2019s Attorney, of Jacksonville (Michael A. Scodro, Solicitor General, and Michael M. Glick and Katherine D. Saunders, Assistant Attorneys General, of Chicago, of counsel), for the People."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "(No. 106203.\nTHE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellee, v. MILDRED LAUGHARN, Appellant.\nOpinion filed May 21, 2009.\nMichael J. Pelletier, State Appellate Defender, Gary R. Peterson, Deputy Defender, and Arden J. Lang, Assistant Defender, of the Office of the State Appellate Defender, of Springfield, for appellant.\nLisa Madigan, Attorney General, of Springfield, and Chris Reif, State\u2019s Attorney, of Jacksonville (Michael A. Scodro, Solicitor General, and Michael M. Glick and Katherine D. Saunders, Assistant Attorneys General, of Chicago, of counsel), for the People."
  },
  "file_name": "0318-01",
  "first_page_order": 330,
  "last_page_order": 336
}