After a month-long trial and about 10 hours of deliberations, a jury found Washington Township Police Officer Joseph DiBuonaventura not guilty on all 14 counts stemming from the 2012 arrest of a N.J. assemblyman on charges of driving while intoxicated.

DiBuonaventura was indicted on 14 criminal counts -- three counts of tampering with records, three counts of falsifying records, three counts of false swearing and five counts of official misconduct.

The jury of five men and seven woman acquitted him on all counts.

"I feel great," said DiBuonaventura, moments after embracing about a dozen friends and family members who've sat with him throughout the trial and calling his mother to tell her the news.

The charges DiBuonaventura faced stem from July 31, 2012, when DiBuonaventura arrested Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-4 of Washington Township) on charges of driving while intoxicated. Since the arrest Moriarty has insisted on his innocence, saying DiBuonaventura targeted him, lied about the reason for the motor vehicle stop, and falsely arrested him.

All charges against Moriarty were dismissed shortly after DiBuonaventura was indicted in May of 2013, after the prosecutor's office argued the charges against Moriarty stemmed from an illegal stop and could not be prosecuted.

Since those charges, which included refusing a breath test, were dropped with prejudice, they cannot legally be reinstated regardless of the outcome of DiBuonaventura's trial.

Over the course of the trial which began on Feb. 2, the prosecution argued that DiBuonaventura lied about why he stopped Moriarty at the Chick-Fil-A on Route 42, after he wrote a police report that he was on patrol going north on Route 42 when Moriarty's vehicle moved from the left lane to the right lane and "cut [DiBuonaventura] off" about 30 feet before the Greentree Road jug handle on Route 42.

Assistant Prosecutor Audrey Curwin said the video recording of the pursuit and arrest of Moriarty shows that the events DiBuonaventura described in his report never happened, and that once DiBuonaventura found out the entire pursuit was captured on the hard drive of his car's mobile video recording system, he attempted to cover up his lies with a supplemental report filed on Aug. 13.

Defense attorney Louis Barbone, however, argued that the video proves DiBuonaventura was telling the truth about the motor vehicle violation as Moriarty's car is seen "cutting over" into the jug handle at the last minute.

He's also argued that DiBuonaventura was duty-bound to pursue Moriarty after another officer, Detective Lisa Frattali, told DiBuonaventura in an unrelated phone call that she overheard another detective saying Moriarty was "drunk at Nissan."

Barbone, who launched a vigorous defense throughout the trial, said after the verdict that it was a perfect defense, because it was the truth.

"It was easy to defend because Joe [DiBuonaventura] didn't do anything wrong," said Barbone.

One member of the jury said that after reviewing the state statutes Barbone said Moriarty violated with the turn into the jug handle, all 12 jurors agreed on DiBuonaventura's innocence.

"It was a joint collaboration between all of us, that's really it," said juror Lisa Essing of West Deptford. "There weren't any real sticking points."

Just before the jurors left the courtroom after their verdict was announced, DiBuonaventura yelled "Thank you," to them and added outside of the courtroom that they were 12 normal people who realized he was just doing his job that day.

"The citizens of New Jersey did the right thing today," said DiBuonaventura, who also hugged and thanked one member of the jury as she left the courthouse.

He said that the entire case against him from the start was "retribution" and that now his name is cleared, he'll be "taking on city hall," starting with Washington Township and the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.

"Stay tuned for my whistleblowing," said DiBuonaventura, who has a civil case pending against the township and the police chief. "They're all political cronies, it should've never gotten to this point."

Despite the heavy involvement of Washington Township police officers in the trial -- at least 8 current and former officers testified -- DiBuonaventura said he "absolutely" wants to return to the department and get back to work. He is currently suspended without pay pending the results of the trial.

Chief Rafael Muniz said Thursday morning that he did not have a comment on the verdict, and that the department will be consulting with legal counsel to determine what its next moves should be.

"I have reviewed the verdict issued in the case involving Joseph DiBuonaventura and respect the jury's decision," Muniz said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. "The police department is in the process of reviewing all legal options, but at this time cannot make any further comment."

While DiBuonaventura has been cleared of criminal charges, the municipality is able to pursue administrative charges that carry a different standard of proof.

Washington Township Business Administrator Bob Smith declined to comment.

Moriarty released a statement Tuesday morning, stating he was not happy with the verdict and believes the video tells the true story.

"I respect the verdict of the jury, today, but I am obviously disappointed with the results. I know that I did nothing that day but operate my car safely and lawfully at all times," said Moriarty. "The video evidence speaks for itself and requires no interpretation. My hope is that eventually video cameras in all police vehicles will prevent these types of situations in the future. I would like to thank the Gloucester County Prosecutor's office for their efforts and their support throughout this difficult ordeal."

Assistant Prosecutor Curwin's comment was simple: "We respect the jury's verdict."

Michelle Caffrey may be reached at mcaffrey@southjerseymedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ShellyCaffrey. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.