Petitioner
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- Illinois
The deadline for the submittal of my IL initial post-conviction petition in the appeal of my criminal conviction was in July 2021. I mailed it timely to the trial court but didn't send a copy of it to my county State's Attorney. My judge independently accepted and moved my petition to 2nd stage in September 2021. Yesterday, at 1st status, the state piped up to advise the judge that it intends to challenge my petition on jurisdiction because I failed to serve them properly. The judge did not dismiss my petition outright. He said he lacks the power to do so right now & just told the state it will have to wait to respond to my petition after it is amended.
I am sure that this is a settled legal question, and that other defendants have committed the same error; I just don't see the answer in caselaw. I want to know, if I immediately now serve the state properly (by certified mail or personal service) with a copy of my July 2021 petition, will my filing error be regarded as "harmless", or does it just doom my petition altogether? Will the merit of my petition after it is revised and amended play into this consideration?
I am sure that this is a settled legal question, and that other defendants have committed the same error; I just don't see the answer in caselaw. I want to know, if I immediately now serve the state properly (by certified mail or personal service) with a copy of my July 2021 petition, will my filing error be regarded as "harmless", or does it just doom my petition altogether? Will the merit of my petition after it is revised and amended play into this consideration?