SNOW HILL – Two brothers arrested in August for allegedly stabbing two other men during a fight in Ocean City had their days in Circuit Court this week resulting in modest amounts of jail time and fines.
Joseph Franklin Hill, 27, of Laurel, Md., appeared in Circuit Court on Tuesday to face serious charges including two counts of attempted murder, two counts each of first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment among others. Hill entered Alford pleas on both counts of second-degree assault and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail with all suspended on one count and five years in the other with all but 18 months suspended. Hill was also ordered to pay over $17,000 combined in restitution to the two victims.
Yesterday, Christopher Hill, 29, of Jessup, Md., appeared in Circuit Court for a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree assault in January. He was sentenced to six months in jail with five months and nine days suspended, resulting in a net 21 days in jail. Hill was also fined $500 and ordered to pay over $4,000 as his part of the restitution agreement for the victims.
The Hill brothers were identified and later arrested as the assailants in an altercation near a mid-town hotel on Aug. 20. The investigation revealed the incident started as a chance meeting between the Hills and their group and another group of people including the victims on a nearby bus stop. One of the Hill brothers allegedly asked the other group for a cigarette, which was provided, but the otherwise innocent exchange nearly turned deadly when the two groups engaged in a fist fight. When the dust settled, the two victims had been stabbed and staggered toward the nearby hotel, while the Hills had fled on foot.