Chicago- Christopher Robbins smiled broadly, then leaned forward and shook his head slowly as a Cook County jury acquitted him of sexual assault charges stemming from a 2002 drunken party at which several teens were videotaped having sex with a 16-year-old Naperville girl.

Even with the videotape, the eight-woman, four-man jury deliberated for less than two hours Wednesday before finding Robbins not guilty of two counts of felony criminal sexual assault, each of which carried a possible 15-year prison term.

“I feel great, like I have a new life,” the 20-year-old Brookfield man said moments later outside the Bridgeview courtroom.

Robbins was one of four west suburban men charged with felonies after the Dec. 7, 2002, party at an upscale Burr Ridge home.

During Robbins’ trial, Cook County prosecutors relied heavily on a 14-minute section of videotape shot during the party, arguing it showed the semi-conscious Naperville girl was too drunk to consent to the sexual activity that occurred with several men.

Robbins, though, appears only for a few seconds on a part of the video and defense attorney Robert Kuzas argued during the two-day trial that it wasn’t clear during that brief time that Robbins engaged in any sexual activities with the Naperville girl.

Although he didn’t testify, Robbins said afterward that the quick verdict was a clear indication that he hadn’t done anything wrong. “There just wasn’t any evidence. The tape didn’t show rape,” Robbins said.

Two other men charged with sexual assaulting the girl during the party vanished last fall while free on bond. Adrian Missbrenner, who hosted the party, and Burim Bezeri, both 20, are believed to have fled the United States to avoid prosecution.

Robbins referred to the two men, his friends, saying he thinks the tape also would help exonerate them if they returned.

“It’s going to show that for Adrian and Burim,” Robbins said.

Missbrenner’s parents were present in the courtroom, sitting with Robbins’ mother, Cynthia, when Robbins’ verdicts were announced Wednesday evening. Cynthia Robbins first laughed as the verdicts were read, then began crying and hugged Dobrila Missbrenner, Adrian’s mother.

“The truth came out,” Cynthia Robbins said after the verdicts. “I know my son. My son told me what happened.”

Dobrila Missbrenner said she wishes her son would return because she thinks he would be acquitted. “I have a good feeling about all these kids,” she said, declining to answer other questions about her son.

The Naperville girl, now 19, also was in the courtroom, sitting with her mother and another relative. She sat stoically as the acquittals were announced, but then bent her head and began sobbing as jurors left the courtroom.

Jurors declined to discuss the case as they left the courthouse, but a female juror replied “yes,” when asked if the videotape was the key to the not guilty verdicts.

The entire tape was shown once to jurors, and segments of it were shown at two other times, including once during deliberations Wednesday.

The Naperville teen testified Tuesday that she arrived at the party about 2:30 a.m. but remembers nothing else except chugging vodka and then quickly vomiting.

Prosecutors argued the tape shows the girl was so drunk she was incapable of consenting to any of the sexual activity captured on tape.

“You look at that video, she is out,” Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Deno told jurors in his closing argument.

While Robbins’ wasn’t shown on tape having sex with the teenager, prosecutors argued he had sex with her after first ejecting the other men and the video camera from the room. DNA tests found his semen on an object that had been in contact with the girl’s body, prosecutors said.

Deno said the last segment of the tape was critical because it showed the Naperville teen unconscious on the bed, not stirring even when several people spit on her and wrote sexual slurs on her legs and abdomen. “That is just minutes after [Robbins] supposedly had consensual sexual intercourse with her,” Deno said.