Gavin Grant acquitted in burglary trial

RALEIGH -- Gavin Grant, a former standout N.C. State basketball player, was acquitted Thursday of first-degree burglary and robbery with a dangerous weapon charges related to a home invasion robbery.

The jury's decision in Wake County Superior Court capped a trial that started Monday with prosecutors contending the 6-foot-8 Grant was one of two men who broke into a West Raleigh apartment in Sept. 4, 2010, armed with a gun and demanding money from one of the residents.

Eliza Jacobellis, a woman in the Raleigh apartment, dialed 911 to report that two men were trying to take her boyfriend's money.

Former N.C. State baseball player Domonique Andrews Rodgers, one of the accusers, told police he knew his attackers, offering the names of Grant and another former Wolfpack basketball player - Farnold Degand, who had an alibi.

Rodgers, who was charged with manufacturing marijuana and other drug-charges after the incident, was a key witness for prosecutors.

The defense maintained that since he wrongly identified Degand, he was also wrong about Grant.

Efforts to reach Grant and his attorney were unsuccessful.

Grant, who played with the Wolfpack from 2004 to 2008, did not take the stand in his defense.