State senator's trip irks colleagues

Marzilli represents Mass. in Germany

He was the highest-ranking American official, and he mingled easily with the high-level German politicians, swapping ideas in downtown Berlin about ways to combat global warming. He was known by those at the 200-member conference as the eloquent state senator from Massachusetts.

No one, it appears, knew that state Senator J. James Marzilli Jr. had been accused of sexual assault back home. Or that some of his colleagues in the Senate had called for him to resign. Or that it had been months since the Arlington Democrat had last gone to work at the State House.

Traveling in his official capacity as a state senator and representing Massachusetts abroad, Marzilli, who has been indicted on charges that he sexually accosted women in downtown Lowell, went to Germany last month and participated in a panel discussion on "Greening the Economy."

The international conference, which took place in Berlin Oct. 8-9, was sponsored by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and the Institute for Ecological Economy Research.

"Everybody was really excited to have a senator there," said Anja Caldwell, an environmental architect from Maryland who attended the conference and was on the panel with Marzilli. "He was very well received, and people listened closely to what he had to say. He's a very great speaker."

Marzilli's lawyer said yesterday that no taxpayer money was involved in his travel. But if he got the same deal as Caldwell, then his status as a speaker at the conference won him free airfare and hotel, compliments of the organizers. Caldwell said Marzilli appeared to be traveling alone.

In July, Marzilli pleaded not guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted four women in Lowell in a case that has baffled his colleagues on Beacon Hill.

In response to the allegations, Marzilli did not seek reelection, has not been participating in Senate votes, and will give up his Senate seat when his term expires in January. In the meantime, he is collecting his full state salary of $63,069 a year, which he receives in the form of a biweekly, $2,528 check.

Marzilli's lawyer defended his foreign travel.

"There is absolutely no prohibition to him traveling anywhere but Lowell," his attorney, Terrence W. Kennedy, said yesterday. "He didn't use any taxpayer funds while he was there. He didn't violate any law. He didn't violate any rule. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it."

Kennedy said Marzilli has attended the conference numerous times in the past.

Marzilli attended a second conference in Germany last month, which began just after the other one ended. The conference, sponsored by several German research firms and universities, took place in Berlin Oct. 9-10 and was called "New Challenges to Infrastructure Theory and Policy Markets and Planning, Development, and Sustainability"

When told yesterday of the pending sexual assault charges against Marzilli, Caldwell said she was "completely shocked."

"The person I got to know is very knowledgeable and is nice to talk to," Caldwell said. "I really got the impression of a great politician who was very concerned about his work. That's weird."

Marzilli's travels drew fire yesterday from his colleagues in the Senate, where a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into the allegations against him has been pending without result for months. Shortly after his arrest, he checked into a psychiatric hospital and has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, according to his lawyer.

"Most of the members thought he was under psychiatric care, in a hospital," said Senate minority leader Richard R. Tisei. "And then you find out he's halfway across the world representing the Massachusetts Senate? It's just a sorry situation. It's an embarrassment to the Senate for him to still be around."

The Senate has been rocked by other allegations recently, and lawmakers are sensitive to any suggestions of improprieties.

News of Marzilli's trip, first reported yesterday by State House News Service, follows the arrest of state Senator Dianne Wilkerson, a Roxbury Democrat who, after an FBI sting, is accused of taking bribes to shepherd through legislation. The Senate took swift action, unanimously calling for Wilkerson to resign, but so far has not taken similar action on Marzilli. Wilkerson has announced intentions to resign, but so far has not.

Senate President Therese Murray's reaction was swifter and stronger than previously, an indication that lawmakers are worried about the public image of their profession amid scandals and ethics investigations.

Two weeks ago, when Wilkerson was charged by the FBI, Murray said she would strip her from her chairmanship. She was asked at the time why the Senate had not taken such actions against Marzilli.

"Jim Marzilli has a diagnosed mental illness; this is a different situation," Murray said.

Yesterday she stepped up her criticism of Marzilli and indicated that she may remove him from his chairmanship.

"I find it completely outrageous, given the circumstances of Jim Marzilli's pending Senate ethics investigation and criminal trial, that he would use his elected status in this way," she said in a statement.

She said she expects his travels to Germany to be added to the review already under way by the Senate Ethics Committee. Her spokesman, David Falcone, said she is also considering removing Marzilli from his chairmanship of the Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development

Falcone refused to say whether she had called on Marzilli to resign or whether the Ethics Committee would complete its work before the end of the year, when Marzilli's term ends.

The Massachusetts Republican Party has called on Marzilli to resign, but the Senate has avoided taking any action.

"Jim Marzilli should resign or be expelled from the Senate today," said Barney Keller, a spokesman for the Republican Party. "Not tomorrow, or a week from now, but today. The taxpayers have already paid him nearly $25,000 since his indictment, and it is an absolute farce if he gets paid one penny more."

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.