A Charlottesville District Court judge acquitted rising fourth-year College students Gonzalo Carrion and Joaquin Bueno of misdemeanor assault and battery charges.
Carrion and Bueno were found not guilty on April 28 of assaulting University graduate Shahnawaz Khan at a March party at La Casa Bolivar, the Spanish House.
"We were very happy," Carrion said of the verdict.
Police arrested Carrion and Bueno after they fought with Khan when he tried to enter a Spanish House party that had reached maximum capacity.
According to Carrion, the judge said in his verdict that because Khan had trespassed, and forcibly entered the house, Carrion and Bueno were acting in self-defense.
Carrion said another factor in the acquittal was the fact that when Khan was on the stand, he told a different account of the fight than the one he told the University Judiciary Committee earlier in the semester. Carrion said his lawyer introduced the UJC hearing records as evidence when he was questioning Khan. Carrion and Bueno were sanctioned by the UJC but are currently appealing.
"I'm happy that my name has been cleared," Bueno said. "The facts spoke for themselves."
"I believe that justice was served in court," he said.
Carrion said Khan has threatened to file a civil suit to pay for his $1,500 medical bills but has not done so.
Khan could not be reached for comment.
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