CLEVELAND -- A jury of five women and three men acquitted Steelers backup tailback Najeh Davenport of three misdemeanor charges late today.

Mr. Davenport, 29, had been charged with three misdemeanors -- domestic violence, child endangering and unlawful restraint -- in an Oct. 4 incident off Cleveland's 115th Street involving Anita Person, the mother of their 5-year-old son, Najeh Davenport Jr.

"I think the truth and my lawyer played a big impact in the outcome," Mr. Davenport said as his only comment as he left the Justice Center.

Mr. Davenport spent one hour, 33 minutes on the stand this morning testifying on his own behalf, saying, among other things, that Ms. Person jumped through an open rear passenger-side door into his moving SUV and wound up sitting atop his 2-year-old son, Ali, in his car seat in the middle of the backseat. He added that, after pushing her hip and moving her off Ali, he stopped the vehicle and she got out clutching Najeh Jr.

He said she fell to the ground -- witnesses earlier testified they saw him standing above Ms. Person -- while the two parents where having a "tug of war" over Najeh Jr., part of their fight over custody.

He denied punching her, choking her and throwing her to the ground, as she testified earlier, and also stated that he never assaulted her or caused the swollen lower lip that Najeh Jr. sustained that night. "I grabbed my son" around the waist during the fracas, Mr. Davenport said on the stand, adding that he planned to use both of his sons in a then-upcoming Steelers' charity fashion show. "That's why I came."

He said Ms. Person screamed throughout, asking neighbors and onlookers to "call the police" and that Najeh Jr. complained to her that she was hurting him during the tussle. The boy later visited his father in the patrol car in which Mr. Davenport sat while police interviewed him.

After an investigation, Mr. Davenport was eventually charged. Misdemeanor trials in Cleveland are heard by eight-member juries.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.