A 19-year-old city man admitted to a jury that he "mushed" a Cherokee County School District bus driver in the forehead two years ago and refused to comply with a school official's commands to leave the school bus.

But he claimed he wasn't the one who started the dispute, which resulted in his arrest on a charge of assault and battery by a student on a school district employee.

A jury of nine women and three men agreed and found Kwame Sinteise Hopper not guilty of the charge.

The charge against Hopper stemmed from a Feb. 27, 2007, incident that occurred on a school district bus. Hopper was a 17-year-old student at Gaffney High School at the time.

The female school bus driver claimed Hopper began an argument with her when she picked up students that morning because he had missed the school bus the prior day.

She claimed Hopper continued arguing with her during the drive and that she ultimately decided to radio for assistance from the school district. Former Administrative Principal Tom Goforth Sr. met the school bus outside the school when it arrived and said he approached the bus driver to find out what happened. Goforth testified that he twice instructed Hopper to get off the bus and to wait in the school office and that Hopper refused. "He didn't care whether I called the police officer or anyone," he testified.

The bus driver claimed Hopper then approached and began waving his finger close to her face and eyes and that she responded by pushing his hand away from her face.

Goforth testified Hopper then reached around him and swung at the bus driver several times and that he saw the bus driver get struck once on the top of her head.

Hopper claimed that he never waved his hand close to the bus driver's face and said he approached so he could tell his side of the story to Goforth.

He further said the bus driver was the first one to make contact, slapping his hand, and he admitted he responded by "mushing" the bus driver, which he described as putting his finger on her forehead to push her head back.

He claimed the bus driver then started fighting him.

The jury asked one question during their deliberations about the ramifications of the bus driver's act of knocking or pushing the student's hand away. Judge Roger Couch, who presided over the short trial that consisted of only five witnesses, re-read for the jury the law on assault and battery but said he could not comment on any determination of facts.

Defense Attorney Thomas Shealy, who represented Hopper, said his client had been waiting "two years to tell his side of the story," and said no one ever took a statement, written or otherwise, from him when he was arrested.

He further questioned why there was no videotape of the incident when school buses are equipped with cameras.

Shealy claimed the dispute wasn't one-sided.

"They were both giving and taking at the same time and they were both getting upset," he told the jury.

"The focus here is what started it," he added. "The slapping of his hand is what started it."

Judge Couch dismissed the charge against Hopper following the trial.