TRENTON N.J.

After a Rider University freshman died following a drinking binge at an on-campus fraternity, prosecutors made the unusual step of indicting two university officials.

At the time, prosecutor Joseph Bocchini Jr., said the move was sending a message to students and administrators alike. "The standards of college life, when it relates to alcohol, need to be policed carefully," he said.

But six months later, chances are no one will go to jail for the 18-year-old's drinking death, and the prosecutor is being criticized for his handling of the case.

The indictments against the two administrators were dropped, and most of the students indicted will avoid jail time and criminal records.

The prosecutor now says he was unsure from the beginning whether the charges would stick.

"I was grappling with it in my own mind. We were trying to figure out what to do with it," Bocchini said Wednesday.

In fact, Bocchini says he feels sorry that Anthony Campbell, 52, Rider's dean of students, and Ada Badgley, 31, the university's director of Greek life, had to face indictments. But he says the system left him no choice.

"I said, 'Look, I have a grand jury, a legally constituted body, recognized by the courts, that comes back with this indictment. We have to look at this thoroughly. This is a highly sensitive case,'" Bocchini said.

But critics say that if Bocchini really thought the resulting charges were questionable, he held off too long to drop them.

"He took up the court's time. He does not get an A-plus for the way he handled this," said Hank Nuwer, an expert on hazing cases who teaches journalism at Franklin College in Franklin, Ind.

Nuwer said Bocchini's handling of the case may actually make other prosecutors more hesitant to indict university officials involved with campus crimes.

The outcome has caused further grief for the family of Gary DeVercelly Jr., the fraternity pledge from Long Beach, Calif., who died of alcohol poisoning.