Formerly a Medical Examiner with the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). He was a child prodigy who graduated college at eighteen, and by twenty-four he was a fully board-licensed surgeon. He had several years experience in the ER (episode 202, "Grand Murder at Central Station"). After losing two patients, he abandoned surgery in favor of the medical examiner's office. At the start of season two, Hawkes has moved from the autopsy room out into the field. In episode 311, "Raising Shane", Hawkes is arrested as the prime suspect in a robbery and murder, but the rest of the team, despite being removed from the case, end up proving his innocence through a seemingly-unrelated case.