Sean Grant, 25, wept when jurors delivered their verdict shortly after 8 p.m. His lawyer, Sean Robichaud, drove Mr. Grant home to see his two young children after he was released.

"Sean's very happy," Mr. Robichaud said. "He spent nine months in custody. He had no criminal record and he still doesn't."

Mr. Grant waited about seven hours for the verdict after the jury retired in the early afternoon Wednesday. The verdict came two weeks to the day after jurors started hearing evidence in the case.

Although Mr. Grant admitted he stabbed Greg Baker three times on the night of June 11, 2005, he insisted he was fighting in self-defence after the larger man attacked him. The confrontation occurred outside the home of Mr. Baker's parents on Rosefield Road in Pickering, when Mr. Grant showed up looking to get a refund for marijuana he said he bought from Mr. Baker's sister, Andrea.

Mr. Baker, now 29, nearly died from injuries inflicted during the fight with Mr. Grant. A major artery in his chest cavity was severed and one of his lungs was lacerated, jurors heard.

He and Andrea Baker, 24, portrayed Mr. Grant as the aggressor, saying he had harassed Ms. Baker for several days before showing up to confront the young woman. Crown witnesses said Mr. Grant pulled a knife from his waistband and announced he was going to kill Mr. Baker as tensions mounted.

The trial was highlighted by sometimes testy exchanges between Mr. Robichaud and the two primary Crown witnesses. Both Andrea and Greg Baker bristled when Mr. Robichaud suggested they had lured Mr. Grant to the townhouse the night of the fight to intimidate or attack him to make him leave Ms. Baker alone.

Mr. Grant took the stand in his own defence, telling the jurors he was ambushed and beaten after Ms. Baker invited him to the house. He said he was only looking to get his money back after being ripped off in a dope deal arranged by Ms. Baker.

Jurors heard Ms. Baker introduced Mr. Grant to a friend of hers who sold him a quarter pound of pot. But Mr. Grant was immediately dissatisfied with the quantity and quality of the marijuana. He contacted Ms. Baker several times in an attempt to get a refund, and twice went to Ms. Baker's parents' home on Rosefield trying to find her.

Andrea Baker told her brother Greg about Mr. Grant hassling her, jurors heard.

Mr. Baker admitted he twice called Mr. Grant, angrily vowing the second time to kill him and burn down his barber shop. But he insisted on the stand he was hoping to peacefully settle the dispute between Mr. Grant and Ms. Baker.

Ultimately, the jury seems to have accepted Mr. Grant's claim of self defence, rejecting the prosecution portrayal of him as the aggressor in the clash with Mr. Baker.

"I think the deciding factor was the jury's application of reasonable doubt," Mr. Robichaud said.

The defence lawyer praised the jury's decision.

"It shows the importance of juries," he said, noting the acquittal resulted in Mr. Grant's emerging from custody for the first time since he surrendered to police last June. He was twice denied bail during that time of incarceration.

"It also shows how important our bail system is," Mr. Robichaud said. "We have to give the benefit of the doubt and realize the bail system is premised on the presumption of innocence."

Durham Regional Police Detective Tom Andrews said the case highlights the dangers and violence associated with drugs.

"This case involves the drug culture. Anytime drug dealers are involved there's a path of misery and often bloodshed in their wake," he said.

"There's no such thing as a drug deal gone right."

The veteran cop praised the effort of paramedics who arrived to find a gravely wounded Mr. Baker, who nearly bled to death in a neighbour's foyer after being stabbed.

"They battled the grim reaper and won," he said.

"Mr. Baker owes them his life."