People v. Reyes

              Nos. 1-04-1047 & 1-04-1150 Consolidated
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of
Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County.
)
v. ) No. 98 CR 12440
)
ARTURO REYES, ) Honorable
) Stanley J. Sacks,
Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge Presiding.
______________________________________________________________________________
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of
Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County.
)
v. ) No. 98 CR 12440
)
GABRIEL SOLACHE, ) Honorable
) Stanley J. Sacks,
Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge Presiding.
JUSTICE ROBERT E. GORDON delivered the opinion of the court:
The central issue in these consolidated appeals is whether the confessions of defendants
Arturo Reyes and Gabriel Solache were coerced. In June 2000, following simultaneous trials before
separate juries, defendants were each found guilty of two counts of first degree murder, two counts
of aggravated kidnaping, and home invasion. There was no physical evidence linking either defendant
to the crimes. Solache received a sentence of death for the murder convictions, and Reyes was
sentenced to natural life in prison without possibility of parole. On January 10, 2003, while Solache’s
direct appeal was pending before the Illinois Supreme Court, then-Governor George Ryan commuted
Solache’s death sentence to natural life imprisonment. The supreme court then transferred Solache’s