"Repeated contacts with the criminal justice system, consultation with attorneys and incarceration in a penal institution with legal facilities are all facts from which the fact finder may infer knowledge."

"For laches to bar relief, the State must prove by a preponderance of the evidence, first, that the petitioner unreasonably delayed in seeking relief and, second, that the State has been prejudiced by the delay."

Unless a petitioner has knowledge of a defect in the conviction or of the means to seek relief from the conviction, he can seldom be said to have delayed unreasonably in seeking relief.

The State is required to present objective facts from which the finder of fact may draw a reasonable inference of a petitioner's knowledge of his post-conviction rights in order to support a finding of laches.

The doctrine of laches cannot be predicated upon constructive knowledge and inquiry notice alone is not sufficient to support a finding of unreasonable delay under circumstances permitting diligence.

We have defined laches as " `neglect for an unreasonable or unexplained length of time, under circumstances permitting diligence, to do what in law should have been done.'"

It is an implied waiver arising from knowledge of existing conditions and an acquiescence in them, the neglect to assert a right, as taken in conjunction with the lapse of time, more or less great, and other circumstances causing prejudice to the adverse party and thus operating as a bar in a court of equity.