ANN ARBOR, MI - Dallas Cowboys rookie Jourdan Lewis was found not guilty of domestic assault by an Ann Arbor jury Tuesday, July 25.

A six-member jury determined Lewis did not criminally assault his girlfriend in March at their Ann Arbor apartment.

The jury, made up of four women and two men, deliberated for a little more than an hour.

"I'm elated, of course," Lewis said in the hallway after the verdict.

The former University of Michigan cornerback added that he would issue a full statement later.

"I believed in this case," Lewis' defense Ann Arbor-based attorney John Shea said. "I'm grateful it went our way."

After the loss, the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office vowed to stay vigilant on domestic violence cases.

"While we respect the jury's verdict, we will continue our efforts to protect victims of domestic violence and to hold offenders accountable," First Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eric Gutenberg said in an email.

The case was handled by Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Lou Danner III.

While Lewis didn't take the stand in his domestic assault case, a jury did get to hear his side of the story via a video recording of his initial interview with police.

Lewis told police he was asleep when his ex-girlfriend, 21-year-old Nikole Miller, came home to the apartment they shared in the 3000 block of Signature around 1 a.m., March 15.

She woke him up because he left the bedroom lights on. The couple had fought about money issues in the past, according to multiple witnesses.

Lewis told police that when he woke up, Miller was yelling at him, asking "Do you pay the bills?"

"It was so petty," he said. "Just cut the light off."

Lewis was prompted to pull out the pillow he was sleeping on and hit her with it, he said.

Lewis left the apartment after the encounter, but called police to speak with them soon afterward.

"The pillow I was on, I hit her with it," he said at one point. He said at another point that he "threw" the pillow at her.

He was adamant to police that he didn't strike her with his hands at any point.

"I didn't hit her. I just hit her with a pillow," he said at another point. "My whole goal was to get out of the house."

Lewis also testified that Miller struck him after he called her a derogatory name. He told police she used an open palm to smack him on the chest and face, according to testimony.

As for holding her down by the throat or choking her, Lewis said he was just trying to get out of the house at that point.

"None of this was malicious intent," he said. "I was just trying to get out of the house."

Miller initially told police that Lewis squeezed her neck when he held her down, but later changed that detail when she was interviewed a second time, according to trial testimony.

Portions of the interview video were shown during testimony by Ann Arbor police officers Kabe Jenkins and Officer Mark Pulford, the responding officers who later interviewed Lewis.

Both officers testified that the apartment didn't appear to be in any disarray.

"Nothing stood out that an altercation had occurred," Pulford said.

The officers also testified that Miller did not request any medical treatment after the incident.

Miller gave a tearful testimony Tuesday morning. She felt Lewis hit her with the pillow three times, hard enough to constitute assault.

Ann Arbor News photographer Melanie Maxwell contributed to this report.