Court: Ex-Senator has to stand trial on charges he tried to paw women

The Supreme Judicial Court today rejected an argument by former Arlington state Sen. James Marzili that he should be free to go on charges he tried to grope several women in Lowell in 2008.

Marzili, whose lawyers have asserted mental illness as a defense, had sought to have charges against him thrown out based on a ruling in another case in which a man was freed because a judge changed the charge against him from "indecent assault and battery" to just "indecent assault," a crime that is not defined in state law. In that case, the judge determined an alleged perv had not actually physically touched the girl he was charged with committing the crime against, so there was no "battery" to charge him with.

The state's highest court, however, noted that Marzili was formally charged with attempted indecent assault and battery, which is a crime in Massachusetts, and that prosecutors had made a strong enough case to warrant going to trial:

With respect to the element of an "overt act" toward the commission of the crime, no one appears to dispute that the Commonwealth, at least as a matter of theory, can meet its burden; the indictment against the defendant alleges such an overt act in some detail. Nor is there disagreement that the substantive crime of indecent assault and battery was not accomplished.

Complete ruling.