TRENTON, N.J.
After a Rider University freshman died following a drinking binge at an on-campus fraternity, prosecutors took the unusual step of indicting two university officials.
At the time, prosecutor Joseph Bocchini Jr., said the move sent a message to students and administrators alike. “The standards of college life, when it relates to alcohol, need to be policed carefully,” he says.
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.
