But both a prosecutor and a judge disagreed, both noting Hernandez had apparently “recklessly” ignored an order last year by the city of Lynn to keep his dogs muzzled and on a leash at all times when out in public, after an attack on a dog in that city.
“Had they been muzzled, this wouldn’t have happened,” said prosecutor Stephen Patten.
And Judge Robert Brennan went further than that, suggesting the pit bulls were being kept by Hernandez “perhaps in conjunction with” his past history of drug trafficking.
That history includes an arrest in New York on drug charges that led to a three-year prison term in 2007 and an indictment here in 2014, later dismissed on procedural grounds, charging that he was the head of a pill trafficking ring bringing drugs from New York to Massachusetts.
Brennan on Thursday ordered Hernandez, 38, of 20 Summit St., Salem, held on $25,000 bail, as well as on a probation warrant issued by Peabody District Court.
As that hearing was taking place, Julie Carr, the victim in the attack Tuesday night, was at a surgical consultation, said her husband Mark, who was home taking care of their injured dog.
“My wife was attacked by two unleashed pit bulls,” Mark Carr said Thursday.
While the white pit bull, Prince, attacked Julie Carr, a gray pit bull called Luna went after the couple’s yellow Lab, six-month-old Kirk.
Police say that once the dog got hold of Julie Carr’s hand, it shook its head back and forth.
Doctors are hoping to be able to restore the use of her thumb and fingers, said her husband, but she’s expected to spend at least a couple of months recovering.
As Prince attacked his wife, Mark Carr said, the other dog, Luna, was attacking the yellow Lab, breaking Kirk’s femur.
Mark Carr said he had to punch Prince in the head repeatedly to get the dog to loosen its grip on his wife, injuring his own hand. Then Prince joined in the attack on Kirk, puncturing the smaller dog’s chest.
Kirk’s injuries left the Lab with a drainage tube and unable to walk.
The registered owner of the dogs is a woman Hernandez’s attorney, Brad Keene, described as his client’s “long-term fiancee,” Sonia Aoude. She has been notified by the city of a dog ordinance violation and a pending hearing.
Keene told the judge it was not Hernandez’s intention for the dogs to get out of the car.
“The dogs ran out before he could grab them,” said Keene, who added that both Hernandez and his son tried to get the dogs “immediately,” and his client suffered a bite wound himself.
“There was no criminal intent,” said Keene, who went on to suggest several times that the incident was a “civil” matter the Carrs could pursue on their own.
He urged Brennan to release Hernandez without setting bail in the case, telling the judge that Hernandez made some 30 appearances in court in his most recent drug case. His lawyer said Hernandez had posted $20,000 bail in that case.
That pill trafficking case, involving Hernandez and more than a dozen other defendants, was dismissed last year after Port Authority of New York & New Jersey police would not comply with a subpoena issued by a judge at the request of the defense, seeking the identity of witnesses whose information led to wiretaps. Information from those wiretaps was used to charge Hernandez and the others in Massachusetts.
Patten, the prosecutor, cited a history of defaults in earlier court cases, however, pointing to approximately 18 missed court hearings over the past two decades, during which Hernandez has faced not only drug charges but charges of assaultive behavior as well.
“This is someone who doesn’t care,” Patten argued. “He’s reckless and irresponsible.”
Mark Carr, a lifelong dog owner, shares that view.
“There (are) simple rules about dogs,” he said. “You keep your dog leashed and under control. I’ve had dogs all my life and they’ve never bit a person.”
Mark Carr and his wife have grandchildren on the same block, where his family has lived for generations. “It could have been one of them,” he said.
He’s grateful to the work of police, EMTs and their neighbors. “Lots of people supported us through this,” he said.
A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Sept. 12.
Hernandez’s dogs have been taken by the city. Brennan ordered that if Hernandez is released, he’s barred from having any pets while the case is pending.
(Salem News - Aug 4, 2016)
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