Clerk magistrate charges Marzilli with assault

Grants Arlington woman's request

J. James Marzilli Jr. is not seeking reelection.

An Arlington woman succeeded yesterday in her quest to have state Senator J. James Marzilli Jr. charged with sexually assaulting her, raising questions about Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr.'s decision not to file charges in May and renewing pressure on him to prosecute the case.

"This was part of her vindication," Wendy Murphy, the woman's lawyer, said after Clerk Magistrate Robert Moscow of Cambridge District Court charged Marzilli with two counts of indecent assault and battery. "She wanted it to be known that what she said was true and that she really did have a valid case."

Frustrated that Leone had decided that there was not enough evidence to press charges, the woman took the unusual step last month of initiating a citizen's request for a criminal complaint. Moscow granted the request yesterday after the woman testified under oath that she was groped by Marzilli, an Arlington Democrat, after a charity event in April.

Leone said he did not expect to prosecute the case because the only new evidence to emerge yesterday was a four-page statement from the woman, detailing her allegations that Marzilli had groped her.

Leone said that investigators had interviewed the woman several times when initially looking into her assertions and that yesterday's statement did not shed new light on the case.

"I'm keeping an open mind, but I think the likelihood is very low that there's anything in that four-page affidavit that I've reviewed that is going to change our mind," Leone said yesterday. "Based upon evidence we've looked at, we consider there to be significant legal and factual deficiencies in going forward with a prosecution."

If Leone does not prosecute the case, the charges will be dismissed, his office said.

Marzilli's lawyer, Terrence W. Kennedy, said yesterday that he expected Moscow to issue criminal charges and expects Leone will not prosecute the case. Kennedy said he and Marzilli, neither of whom went to court to challenge the request, were not going to take part in "a legal charade."

"We weren't going to participate in it; it's going to get dismissed," Kennedy said. "The DA has said publicly and over and over again that he was going to do that. . . . This case is going nowhere. . . . It's the least of my concerns."

The woman has alleged that she was assaulted after Marzilli drove her home from an arts event in Arlington and asked to come into her apartment and see her recently renovated kitchen. She alleges that while in the kitchen at about 1 a.m. April 6, Marzilli lurched toward her and fondled her.

Leone investigated the allegations and decided May 13 that there was "insufficient evidence to prove criminal charges beyond a reasonable doubt against Mr. Marzilli."

Murphy said she hopes Leone will reconsider his decision now. She said, however, that prosecutors make such decisions if they believe there is evidence "beyond a reasonable doubt" to win the case at trial, a higher bar than "the probable cause" standard that Moscow used.

"I trust his judgment," Murphy said, "and I hope he has the character to make the right decision."

Marzilli is facing additional charges; police say he made inappropriate sexual comments to four women in Lowell June 3 and tried to grope one. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex, attempting to commit indecent assault and battery, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.

In June, Marzilli checked into McLean Hospital in Belmont for what Kennedy described as bipolar disorder. Marzilli returned home this month and is "preparing for the battle" ahead against the charges, Kennedy said yesterday.

Murphy planned to go to Middlesex Superior Court today seeking an injunction under a state civil rights statute that would bar Marzilli from sexually harassing any woman in the state. Murphy said a violation could result in a 10-year prison sentence, a much stiffer penalty than those handed out for sexual harassment.

"We want to say to guys like this that you're not just bothering people; you're hurting an entire class of human beings,"Murphy said.

An outspoken 50-year-old liberal first elected to the House in 1991 and to the Senate in December, Marzilli has said he would not seek reelection this fall. He has ignored calls from the state Republican Party to resign, and the party has responded by pointing out that he is still drawing a taxpayer-funded salary.

A GOP statement yesterday read: "Cost of Senator Marzilli per day: $180.10."