Advo

Marzilli’s lawyer on WGBH

Posted on July 10, 2008 by ametzger
Filed Under Uncategorized |

Those following the legal saga of Jim Marzilli might want to check out Emily Rooney’s interview of Marzilli’s attorney Terrence Kennedy on “Greater Boston.”

The show aired Wednesday, but is available online here. (At least for now. You may need to look around to find the video a few weeks from now.)

On the show Kennedy elaborated on some of what he said outside Lowell Superior Court earlier in the day.

Kennedy also alluded to motions he might make to dismiss charges against his client.

According to Kennedy, the alleged victim denies the charge that Marzilli attempted to assault and batter her under oath. But Kennedy qualified that statement saying he hadn’t yet read the testimony from the indictment.

Rooney claimed one of Marzilli’s colleagues (another state senator?) told her that it was well known within the State Senate that Marzilli occasionally dressed like a homeless person.

Kennedy said he has no knowledge of anything like that, and said Marzilli’s a sharp dresser.

“I can’t imagine him dressing like a homeless person ever,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy also took umbrage at the way people with mental illness are treated in the courts, and in the media.

“In 2008 I think it’s outrageous that people are making fun of someone, because they have a mental disorder,” Kennedy said.

Currently, Marzilli is out of McLean Hospital at some times, but continues to receive treatment there, Kennedy said.

Kennedy also defended the decision by Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone not to bring charges against Marzilli for an incident in April, when an Arlington woman claimed the state senator groped her.

The investigation was thorough and if Leone had a case he would have prosecuted it, Kennedy said.

Toward the end of the show, Kennedy questions the Constitutionality of charging Marzilli for things he said to women.

Marzilli is charged with four counts of annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex, as well as attempting to commit a crime (indecent assault and battery); disorderly conduct; and resisting arrest.

“And he’s not accused of using any foul language,” Kennedy said. “I don’t believe in this day and age is going to pass Constitutional muster,”