People v. Tansil

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Kane County the defendant, Jack Tansil, was convicted of the murders of his mother and sister. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 9 — 1.) He was originally sentenced to two concurrent 30-year terms of imprisonment, but pursuant to an Illinois Supreme Court order, was later re sentenced to a term of natural life imprisonment. On appeal, defendant raises only one contention: that the trial judge erred when, in the absence of defendant and his counsel, he refused the jury’s request to review expert testimony under the erroneous assumption that he…