People v. Thompkins

The defendant Willie Thompkins appeals the December 8, 2004, order of the circuit court of Cook County sentencing him to two concurrent natural life sentences for the murders of Gerald Holton and Arthur Sheppard. We are asked to consider whether then-Governor Ryan’s commutation order which removed the sentencing consequence of capital punishment from defendant’s previously imposed death sentence also removed the requirement of a mandatory natural life sentence under section 5 — 8—1(a)(1)(c) of the Unified Code of Corrections (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 1005 — 8— 1(a)(1)(c)). The…