The family of a Fairfield University student who died in Newport after a scuffle with University of Rhode Island students is criticizing Democratic Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, saying they are “troubled and confused” by the decision “not to pursue any criminal charges against those responsible for our son’s death.”

Francis J. Marx V, 21, who was to give his class valedictory speech and was in Newport to attend a formal dance with his girlfriend, died in the early morning hours of May 20, 2004, after a scuffle with a group of URI students who were in Newport on a pub crawl to celebrate their graduation. Marx either fell or was pushed into Thames Street, where he was run over by a charter bus carrying URI students back to campus.

After Marx’s death, three URI students were arrested on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct. But the police dropped the charges on the advice of the attorney general’s office, and the investigation went to a grand jury. In May 2005, the attorney general’s office informed the Marx family that a grand jury had completed its investigation and no charges would be filed.

This week, the Marx family issued a written statement, saying, “It certainly appears as though Attorney General Patrick Lynch deliberately mishandled the investigation and allowed the guilty to go free.” The family said “crucial evidence was withheld from the grand jury” because the three URI students were not called to testify. Also, they said one of those students is the son of a deputy police chief in Rhode Island.

“In a meeting with the ttorney general in July 2005 Patrick Lynch told us we needed to get over the death of our son and get on with our lives,” the Marx family stated. “We understand that this is the very same message he gave to the parents of the victims of The Station nightclub tragedy.”

J. William W. Harsch, the Republican candidate for attorney general, issued a news release, saying, “This reeks of political favoritism and is disturbingly reminiscent of Mr. Lynch’s handling of The Station fire tragedy.”

Lynch issued a statement yesterday, saying, “The allegations of the Marx family constitute, for me personally, probably the saddest moment in what has become, regrettably, an unrelentingly negative political campaign.”

“Let me start by continuing to offer the Marx family my heartfelt thoughts and prayers as they continue to try to make sense of the senseless — the death of their beloved son,” Lynch said. “I will note at the outset, however, that these allegations are political.”

Lynch said former Vice President Al Gore called him on behalf of a Marx family member — who had worked with Gore in the White House — and asked Lynch to “do the right thing.” Lynch said, “I assured him that I was doing the right thing, and that the case was headed to a grand jury for an independent investigation.”

Also, he said that after the grand jury completed its work, a member of the Marx family promised the lack of an indictment would become a “political issue” for Lynch.

Lynch said his office advised the police to drop the disorderly conduct charges because authorities wouldn’t have been able to bring new felony charges if the students had already been prosecuted for the misdemeanors.

Lynch said the three URI students were not called to testify because they had, through their lawyers, declined to cooperate, and he said, “There was no legal mechanism to compel them to surrender their constitutionally guaranteed rights against self-incrimination.”

Lynch said prosecutors presented “an extensive case” to the grand jury, including statements and testimony of witnesses and police officers.

“Unfortunately, sufficient credible evidence will never be established to determine the exact circumstances leading up to his death,” he said. “It could not be determined then, and it cannot be stated now, that it was a crime that led to Frank Marx’s death.”