People v. Wages

A jury convicted Michael Wages (defendant) of two counts of first degree murder after which the trial court sentenced him to mandatory natural life imprisonment. Defendant appeals.

The issues presented for review are (1) whether the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant shot and killed the two victims, (2) whether the State committed reversible error during closing argument by commenting on facts that were allegedly not in evidence and by making allegedly improper inferences from the record, and (3) whether defendant’s mandatory natural life imprisonment sentence violated the…