Divyendu Sinha, 49, died three days after he was beaten by a group of teens on an Old Bridge Street in 2010.

One defendant hunched over the table, dabbing at tears of relief with a tissue.

Not far away, the victim’s widow rose and stalked from the courtroom, unable or unwilling to listen to the string of verdicts announced by the jury foreman.

"Not guilty."

"Not guilty."

"Not guilty."

For Cash Johnson and Christian Tinli, charged with murder, aggravated assault and other counts in the beating death of a 49-year-old computer scientist in Old Bridge, the pronouncements meant almost certain freedom.

For Alka Sinha, they meant a sentence of her own.

It was a scene of contrasts in a New Brunswick courtroom Monday as jurors cleared Johnson and Tinli, both 20, of every felony count against them, finding the pair guilty only of simple assault in a wolfpack-style attack on Divyendu Sinha three years ago.

Simple assault, a fourth-degree crime, carries a presumption of non-incarceration.

Two other young men, Julian Daley, 19, and Christopher Conway, 20, previously pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the case. A third, Steven Contreras, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault after he was acquitted of more serious charges. All three have yet to be sentenced.

Alka Sinha, who watched the beating of her husband unfold that June night and who testified during the eight-week trial, declined to comment after the verdicts were read.

A family spokesman, Gaurang Zaishnav, said Sinha feels as if she has lost her husband all over again.

"Mrs. Sinha is not in good shape," Zaishnav said. "She feels they have lost everything."

Johnson embraced his aunt, Divyka Roberson, in the hallway outside the courtroom, his own tears giving way to a broad smile. "I want to thank my family for being behind me all the way," Johnson said. He also thanked his lawyer, William Fetky, for "saving my life."

Roberson, who helped raise Johnson and his siblings after the death of their mother, expressed her condolences to the Sinha family before adding, "I’m glad to have Cash home."

Fetky, who argued at trial that Johnson never struck Divyendu Sinha during the encounter, said jurors made "the right decision."

"We are all very happy," he said.

Tinli and his family declined to comment. His lawyer, Joseph Mazraani, called the verdict "fair and just."

Middlesex County Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Kuberiet argued at trial that Johnson and Tinli, along with their friends, attacked Sinha randomly and without mercy.

The five, former Old Bridge High School students, had been drinking earlier in the night and "wanted to (expletive) someone up," the prosecutor told jurors.

On Fela Drive in Old Bridge, the group happened upon the Sinha family out for a walk. Four of the five converged on Divyendu Sinha, a former professor at Stevens Institute of Technology.

Alka Sinha identified Tinli as the one who powerfully punched her husband on the right side of his face, sending him sprawling. Divyendu Sinha died three days later of a massive hemorrhage.

The jury, after five days of deliberations, found Tinli guilty of simple assault for taking part in the attack but did not link him to the fatal blow. Johnson was found guilty of the same charge for striking one of Sinha’s sons, who tried to intervene on his father’s behalf.

Zaishnav, the Sinha family spokesman, called the verdict "a miscarriage of justice."

"I was truly shocked," Zaishnav said. "We had hoped there would be some justice, that they would get convicted, especially Mr. Tinli. These guys have been set free, maybe to hurt somebody else."

Peter Kothari, an activist and organizer in Middlesex County’s Asian-Indian community, agreed that "justice has not been served."

"A very productive person in society has lost his life. A child has lost their father and a wife her husband," Kothari said. "The Indian-American community will be very upset. They won’t have faith in the jury system. How the jury reacted is very hard for me to understand."

Star-Ledger staff writer Mark Mueller contributed to this report.

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