Four years after a teenager claimed she was gang-raped by a group of De Anza College baseball players, a grim-faced civil jury refused Thursday to hold the men liable or award her a penny in damages.

The unequivocal decision -- after a nine-week trial and 3 ½ days of deliberations -- was hailed by the young men and their supporters as a complete vindication but condemned by women's advocates as discriminatory. As the clerk read the long verdict form, one of the defendants broke into a huge grin and another's eyes filled with tears, while the now-21-year-old plaintiff began sobbing uncontrollably.

"A weight is off my chest," said defendant Kenneth Chadwick, whose eyes were red from tears.

The young woman had sought $7.5 million in damages for emotional distress based on her claim that a group of at least nine men sexually assaulted her in a tiny bedroom at a raucous San Jose house party when she was 17 years old and highly intoxicated from drinking more than 10 shots of vodka. Three members of the De Anza women's soccer team barged into the room after spotting through a windowpane in a door what they described as a semi-comatose girl lying in vomit, and brought her to the hospital.

The verdict would appear to resolve a politically charged case that garnered national attention and helped defeat Santa Clara County's previous district attorney because of her controversial decision to not file criminal charges in the case. None of the other seven men originally on trial was found liable either: They were dropped or settled for relatively small sums compared with the millions the plaintiff sought, shortly after testimony began and the defense turned up recent Facebook pictures of the young woman partying in scanty clothing.

But District Attorney Jeff Rosen on Thursday said the civil verdict does not negate the possibility he'll file criminal charges.

"We're still going to test all the evidence and review everything, and then I'll make a decision about whether to file charges against anyone," Rosen said. "If I decide to, that will speak for itself. If I don't, I will explain my decision."

Relief for defendants

The verdict was a relief to the two remaining defendants -- Chadwick and Christopher Knopf -- and their families, who waited anxiously while Judge Aaron Persky sent the jurors back to the jury room at the last minute Thursday morning to finish signing the long verdict form.

Chadwick, who was in the bedroom for less than a minute, faced one cause of action: negligence. The young woman's legal team sought $2.5 million in damages from him. But jurors said they believed he tried to rescue her by alerting a resident of the house that she was "basically getting gangbanged," and that it wasn't Chadwick's fault the housemate didn't follow through.

The young woman sought $5 million from Knopf for 10 causes of action: negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, rape of an unconscious woman, rape of an intoxicated woman, false imprisonment, battery, sexual battery, invasion of privacy, unlawful intercourse and conspiracy.

"Thank God," Knopf's mother exclaimed after the clerk finished announcing one "No" after another on the question of whether her son would be found culpable. Knopf was the first man in the bedroom, but jurors believed the teen invited him in and that he may have left before most of the other men came in.

The jury of six men and six women had to wade through a mountain of conflicting evidence about what happened in the 84-square-foot bedroom.

Outside the courtroom, some jurors said their ruling should not be interpreted as a put-down of the young woman or an endorsement of what happened in the South Buena Vista Avenue house that March 3, 2007, night. But most apparently did not find the testimony by the soccer players, April Grolle, Lauren Bryeans and Lauren Chief Elk, persuasive.

A few said they would have held some of the other baseball players who were dropped from the trial liable.

"It was exactly the wrong guys in my mind," said juror Courtney Ridings, a schoolteacher. "We were very angry we were left with these two."

Juror No. 3, a 47-year-old San Jose widow, agreed.

"If there had been other defendants left in the case -- and it was a travesty there weren't -- this verdict would have looked a lot different," she said.

Opinions varied

But other jurors believed the men and other witnesses, who testified that the girl brought beer to the party, performed a public lap dance and invited them in explicit terms to have group sex.

"She came there kind of looking for it," said one male juror, a 62-year-old software engineer.

Another female juror, No. 8, of Los Gatos, was not convinced that the teen had reached a peak blood-alcohol level of 0.27 in the bedroom, as the plaintiff's expert toxicologist had testified. The defendants' expert, on the other hand, said she peaked later.

"I don't think she was comatose," she said. "She was just having a good time -- they were all having a good time."

Even the sole juror who voted most often to hold the men liable, biotech quality-control manager Marc Ancheta, said he wouldn't have awarded the young woman millions.

"But how could you not give her something? A couple hundred thousand dollars," he said. "She obviously needs a lot of therapy, and it will take a couple of years and that's expensive."

Rape survivor Lisa Jensen, who followed the trial closely and has worked as a rape-crisis counselor, dubbed the verdict "unfair" and said she fears it will dissuade women from reporting rape.

"Judging from this verdict, even today in the 21st century, we live in a society where blame and responsibility are assigned to the survivors of sexually violent crimes instead of to the perpetrators," Jensen said. "The impact of this unfair verdict will be far-reaching with potentially devastating consequences for the victims of sexually violent crimes."

Golf commentator Roger Maltbie, whose son was dropped from the case, blamed the media for inflaming the public.

"As far as I'm concerned, the media convicted those kids from Day One," Maltbie said. "This has been a vindication for (former District Attorney) Dolores Carr (who declined to file criminal charges). This was a money grab. I can't speak for every kid, but they knew our son never touched the girl, but they still charged him with rape."

Settlements paid

The plaintiff's lead attorney, Barbara Spector, said her client walked away with a "significant settlement from a number of the defendants." The settlements are confidential, but sources close to the case said Scott Righetti's insurance company paid about $500,000 to $600,000, and Stefano Rebagliati's, no more than $50,000. Righetti is alleged to have stood guard at the bedroom door; Rebagliati allowed his grandson to live in the house for free even though he allegedly knew his grandson gave wild parties. The young woman, now a single mother of a 2-year-old son, may net all or part of that, depending on her arrangement with Spector's firm. However, she is also responsible for Knopf's and Chadwick's costs, excluding attorney's fees, which could be about $150,000.

"Jane Doe could have walked away without being subjected to the onslaught of personal accusations she knew would be coming," Spector said. "Instead, she took the stand and told her story. She is the bravest young woman we know."

Contact Tracey Kaplan at 408-278-3482.

the De Anza Case Cast

Nine men were originally on trial in the civil case. Seven were dropped, settled or transferred their rights to sue their insurance companies for failing to defend them in the lawsuit. The settlements are confidential, but sources close to the case characterized them for the Mercury News.

Found not liable by jury: Christopher Knopf, Kenneth Chadwick
Case dismissed by plaintiff: Spencer Maltbie, Ryan Kanzaki, Cesar Gutierrez
May have assigned plaintiff right to sue insurance company for failing to defend him: Luis Cardenas, Stephen Rebagliati
Settled, possibly for $500,000 to $600,000:
Scott Righetti
Settled, possibly for $25,000 to $50,000: Stefano Rebagliati