Marzilli checks into hospital, will not run for reelection
By Michael Levenson, Brian Ballou, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
State Senator J. James Marzilli Jr. checked into a psychiatric hospital today for treatment of an undisclosed illness and announced he would not seek reelection this September as he faces charges that he tried to grope one woman and harass another on busy streets this week in downtown Lowell.
 State Senator James Marzilli |
"This has been an extremely trying time for him, his wife and family. They appreciate the overwhelming support they have received from the many friends and constituents of Jim Marzilli," Marzilli's lawyer, Terrence W. Kennedy of Everett, said this afternoon in a statement.
Marzilli had issued a brief statement earlier in the day announcing his decision not to seek reelection and thanking his supporters and asking them for their "continued good wishes and support during this very difficult time."
Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said law enforcement officers are also investigating a report of an assault by Marzilli in Arlington last year, one in Brighton two years ago, and additional reports in Lowell Tuesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, the veteran lawmaker fled police who tried to question him, causing cars to swerve out of his way and pedestrians to scramble as he darted through city streets. Marzilli was arrested in a parking garage, where he was cut off by police cruisers chasing him. After officers threatened him with pepper spray to make him submit to handcuffs, according to a police report, he broke into tears and cried that his "life was over."
Friends and political allies were shocked at the apparent unraveling of a career that had taken Marzilli from the trenches of political organizing in the 1980s to the state House in the '90s and the Senate last year. A self-described ultraliberal, Marzilli has been a darling of unions, environmental groups, and social service organizations whose causes he championed.
"This does not conform to the behavior of the Jim Marzilli who we know and love," said George Bachrach, a former Democratic state senator from Watertown and a longtime friend who hired Marzilli to run his campaign for governor in 1994. "I feel many of us who had positive relationships with Jim professionally feel deeply for him now personally."
Marzilli, an Arlington Democrat who served for 17 years in the House before being elected to the Senate in a special election last year, was up for reelection this fall. He was facing two Democratic opponents and had been considered certain to win the seat. Instead, he could face up to five years in state prison if he is convicted of the most serious charge against him, attempt to commit indecent assault and battery.
Marzilli, 50, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Lowell District Court to that charge and four others. Authorities said he had tried to grab the crotch of a woman on a park bench. He also pleaded not guilty to a separate charge that he harassed another woman in Lowell Tuesday morning.
Prosecutor Richard M. Mucci asked that Marzilli be jailed until a judge could determine whether he poses a threat to the public. Marzilli's actions were "frightening and out of control at this point, because he is accosting local women in Lowell," Mucci said.
Judge Neil Walker denied the request, but ordered Marzilli to stay out of Lowell. Because he posted $1,500 bail Tuesday night, Marzilli was allowed to go free and was ordered back in court for a pretrial hearing next month.
"He intends to continue to fight the charges," Kennedy said Wednesday. "He is innocent."
Marzilli's wife, Susan Shaer, sat in the back of the courtroom during the proceedings. Shaer -- who is executive director of Women's Action for New Directions, an antiwar group -- later took her husband's arm as they departed the building and walked down the courthouse steps.
Less than a month ago, Leone had concluded that there was not enough evidence to charge Marzilli with inappropriately touching another woman in his hometown in April.
"We are aware of the possibility of other matters, but we are developing those as we speak and are urging others, if they know of or have been victimized, to come forward," Leone said Wednesday.
Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.
