People v. Fields

The defendants, Nathson Fields and Earl Hawkins, and a codefendant, George Carter, were charged by indictment with the murders of Taiman Hickman and Jerome Smith. Carter’s case was later severed and Fields and Hawkins were tried together. Following a bench trial in the circuit court of Cook County, both defendants were convicted of the murders. When the State filed a motion seeking a death penalty hearing, the defendants waived their right to a jury for the first stage of the sentencing hearing, and the trial court found both defendants eligible for the death penalty. A jury was then…