Brothers are released, await next hearing

By Mike LaBella
mlabella@eagletribune.com

August 29, 2008 12:07 am

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HAVERHILL SEmD Two brothers who were charged with attacking a man with sticks were freed from jail Aug. 13 after paying their bail, according to court officials.

At their pretrial hearing in Haverhill District court, brothers Todd Muir, 23, and Justin Muir, 20, of 6 Blaisdell St. were ordered to appear Sept. 23 for a compliance and election hearing. At the hearing, their lawyers and the state prosecutor will exchange evidence and the brothers will choose from either a bench trial or a trial by jury, court officials said.

The Muir brothers were arrested Aug. 6 by Haverhill police in connection with an Aug. 3 incident that left a Haverhill woman in critical condition at a Boston hospital.

Police said they chased the brother of the injured woman after he found her lying on the ground bleeding. Police said the two brothers then attacked the man with sticks.

Todd and Justin Muir were on their way to court for a dangerousness hearing for their mother, Ernestine "Tina" Muir, 40, of 6 Blaisdell St. when they were arrested.

At their arraignment in Haverhill District Court, they were ordered held on $7,500 cash bail each. The brothers subsequently petitioned Salem Superior Court to have their bail amounts reduced. Todd Muir was denied a bail reduction while Justin Muir's bail was reduced to $4,500, according to the district attorney's office.

Ernestine Muir is charged with punching Tara Hatfield, 33, of 402 River St. in the face, causing her to fall to the ground and suffer a serious head injury.

Police said that in the early morning hours of Aug. 3, Hatfield and her brother Shawn Hatfield, 32, of 1 Arlington Place, went to Ernestine Muir's home. Police said Ernestine Muir and Tara Hatfield got into a fight that ended when Muir punched Hatfield in the face, causing her to fall to the ground and suffer the head injuries. Hatfield was rushed to Caritas Holy Family Hospital in Methuen before being taken by helicopter to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where doctors performed brain surgery. She was eventually transferred to Northeast Rehabilitation Center in Salem, N.H.