MARIETTA — A Marietta man walked out of the Washington County Courthouse Wednesday a free man after a jury deliberated for a half hour and found him not guilty of a sexual battery charge.

Zachary Francis Ball, 26, of 100 Becker Lane, Marietta, was charged in August 2015 with the third-degree felony after a then 20-year-old woman from Columbus accused him of having intercourse with her while she was asleep. If the jury had convicted him, he would have faced up to five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

At the announcement of the verdict, Ball breathed a sigh of relief and his father, Rick Ball, of Princeton, W.Va., wiped away tears. The two embraced after the jury was dismissed and the father shook the hand of Ball’s attorney.

“There were multiple reasons really why we found him not guilty,” said juror Barbara Davis, 30, of Marietta. “A lot of us felt the same way so it wasn’t really a hard decision.”

Davis said the jury considered each piece of evidence; the DNA linked to Ball found in the victim during the medical examination on Aug. 2, the accounts from the defendant, victim and their mutual friend of the events of the night and the amount of alcohol each reported they had consumed that night, along with testimony from two forensic experts, two law enforcement officers and the nurse who performed the rape kit on the victim.

Ball testified Tuesday that he was awakened after a day and evening of drinking with the victim and their mutual friend Justin “Bucket” Hanks to the smell of vomit and realized the victim had been sick in her sleep and that he was afraid she might choke on the vomit.

He said Tuesday that he helped her to the bathroom in his home where she proceeded to get sick again and then showered.

Davis said the jury also considered possible causes of the victim’s sickness earlier in the night than the time she claimed she was violated.

Hanks had testified that he believed he was drugged while out with the group at a Marietta bar because he didn’t equate his feeling of intoxication with the number of drinks he had consumed.

Likewise the victim testified that she did not know why she had gotten sick because she had monitored her consumption as well.

“It didn’t add up, I thought it was odd for her to be getting sick,” said Davis. “I’m 30 years old, I’ve drank and partied and the amount she said she consumed didn’t make me believe she was impaired.”

Impairment is one of the requirements of sexual battery, the other in dispute in the case was if Ball had violated the victim sexually. Davis said she didn’t believe either.

“We don’t have to prove why she made it up,” said Ball’s attorney, Rolf Baumgartel, in his closing statement. “She’s a party girl, she is. This is the kind of girl that enjoys that kind of lifestyle. Yes, we’re saying she lied about the sexual conduct… is it unreasonable to believe Zach?”

Baumgartel posed an alternative reason for why Ball’s DNA was found: that she had showered and used Ball’s towel to dry off after getting sick in bed and at a toilet.

“She used his towel, a towel he hadn’t laundered in more than a week,” said the attorney. “It’s easily explained how Zach’s DNA got on her.”

Ultimately Davis said the jury chose to believe Ball’s account of the evening in question and found that the evidence did not prove Ball had acted a way unbecoming of a law-abiding citizen.

“But I think now for the both of them they will think twice about who they let in their bed, to sleep beside or have sex with,” she said.

Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings did not have a comment at the conclusion of the trial.