Nathson Fields was in a street gang in Chicago known as El Rukn. He was convicted of two murders at the age of 29 in 1986. Fields was arrested and charged for first degree murder. After he got convicted he requested a jury sentencing hearing. The jury concluded that Nathson Fields was eligible for the death penalty. In 1990 his conviction and sentence was upheld.
3 years later the jury for his trial got convicted of federal charges of accepting a $10,000 from a corrupt lawyer named William Swano to acquit Fields of the double murder. After that Nathson Fields was ordered a new trial in 1996. Two witnesses had testified at this trial. They said that they had seen Fields gun down the people murdered outside a public housing project. In affidavits provided defense investigators. The witnesses stated that police and prosecutors had coerced them to falsely identify Nathson. There was no credible case against Fields as he stated from the beginning he was innocent.
Nathson Fields spent 18 years in prison including 11 on Death Row before he was cleared at the 2009 retrial for the double murder. He was 63 when he got out.
Jon Loevy, Fields’ attorney, said at a news conference held later. “He was able to win his retrial and prove his innocence. And the last chapter was this case in federal court, where Nate spent the last month putting on …show more content…
He was handed one of the largest rewards in a wrongful conviction case in Chicago history. $30,000 from O’Callaghan and $10,000 from Murphy. It found that O’Callaghan and Murphy violated Fields due to process rights, and that the violation was a result of a Chicago policy practice. They violated Fields rights by withholding evidence from defense attorneys that could have pointed him away from being the killer. Also, it made an intentional infliction of emotional distress finding against
3 years later the jury for his trial got convicted of federal charges of accepting a $10,000 from a corrupt lawyer named William Swano to acquit Fields of the double murder. After that Nathson Fields was ordered a new trial in 1996. Two witnesses had testified at this trial. They said that they had seen Fields gun down the people murdered outside a public housing project. In affidavits provided defense investigators. The witnesses stated that police and prosecutors had coerced them to falsely identify Nathson. There was no credible case against Fields as he stated from the beginning he was innocent.
Nathson Fields spent 18 years in prison including 11 on Death Row before he was cleared at the 2009 retrial for the double murder. He was 63 when he got out.
Jon Loevy, Fields’ attorney, said at a news conference held later. “He was able to win his retrial and prove his innocence. And the last chapter was this case in federal court, where Nate spent the last month putting on …show more content…
He was handed one of the largest rewards in a wrongful conviction case in Chicago history. $30,000 from O’Callaghan and $10,000 from Murphy. It found that O’Callaghan and Murphy violated Fields due to process rights, and that the violation was a result of a Chicago policy practice. They violated Fields rights by withholding evidence from defense attorneys that could have pointed him away from being the killer. Also, it made an intentional infliction of emotional distress finding against