A jury in Montgomery County Circuit court deliberated for just more than an hour before finding Anthony Jobair Lucas, 23, not guilty of discharging a firearm within or at an occupied dwelling, a felony. Lucas, a 2006 Tech graduate, was accused of firing at least seven bullets from a 9 mm pistol in the predawn hours of Nov. 11, shortly after he had a physical altercation with one of Harris’ teammates, wide receiver Justin Harper.

Harper was inside the Blacksburg apartment at the time of the shooting, along with Harris and linebacker Xavier Adibi.

The prosecution’s case, led by Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Nathaniel Walker, was based largely on the testimony of Augustus Pajibo Peal, 23, who implicated Lucas in the shooting. Peal, who was fraternity brothers with Lucas at Tech, will face the same charge as Lucas on Sept. 29.

Defense attorney Brad McConnell tried to discredit Peal’s testimony in his closing arguments, noting that Peal told a police detective in November that he was innocent, then told the detective in June that he was driving the car from which Lucas fired the pistol, which belonged to Peal. The whereabouts of the pistol are unknown.

Lucas took the stand yesterday and denied knowing in Novemeber that Peal even owned a gun. Lucas said afterward that he at a friend's house when the shooting occurred, nursing injuries suffered in the fight with Harper.

-- Darryl Slater