A judge has granted the release of former San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield after his 2020 rape conviction was vacated by a California appeals court last December.
The Sixth District Court of Appeal overturned the conviction of Stubblefield, who is Black, after determining that prosecutors had made racially discriminatory statements during his trial. However, Stubblefield remained in prison because a lower court judge said he didn’t have the jurisdiction to grant bail or release.
After the state attorney general’s office and the appeals court weighed in, Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Hector Ramon granted Stubblefield’s release Friday from the state prison where he has served close to four years of a 15-year sentence.
“Finally, an innocent man is no longer sitting in a cage away from his family,” Stubblefield’s defense attorney, Kenneth Rosenfeld, said in a statement.
Stubblefield was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison in October 2020 after being convicted of raping a woman in 2015 whom prosecutors said he lured to his home with the promise of a babysitting job. Defense attorneys argued that no rape occurred, and Stubblefield said the woman consented to sex in exchange for money.
Deputy District Attorney Tim McInerny objected to Stubblefield’s release at Friday’s hearing and said his office plans to refile charges, The Mercury News reported.
“A jury unanimously found Mr. Stubblefield guilty of raping a woman at gunpoint, he was given an appropriate sentence, and we felt that justice had been served,” Assistant District Attorney Terry Harman said in a statement. “That justice has been interrupted and although we are disappointed that the judge released Mr. Stubblefield from custody while we await a decision from the California Supreme Court, we remain focused on the sexual assault that occurred, the victim, and the need for accountability and community safety.”
The appellate court found that prosecutors violated the California Racial Justice Act of 2020, a law passed during a summer of protest over the police killing of George Floyd. The measure bars prosecutors from seeking a criminal conviction or imposing a sentence on the basis of race.
The court said prosecutors used “racially discriminatory language” that required them to overturn Stubblefield’s conviction.
“The entire trial was infected with error and bias from the start,” Rosenfeld said. “This was a consensual, transactional encounter, and [Stubblefield] lost years of his life due to a flagrantly biased trial that blocked critical evidence and allowed prejudice and racial bias into the courtroom.”
Rosenfeld said prosecutors used “prejudicial racial tropes,” including calling Stubblefield a “large Black man,” in front of the jury during his trial.
The terms of his supervised release include wearing an ankle monitor, not possessing firearms, and being barred from contacting the reported rape victim.
Stubblefield began his 11-year lineman career in the NFL with the 49ers in 1993 as the league’s defensive rookie of the year. He later won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1997 before leaving the team to play for Washington. He returned to the Bay Area to finish his career, playing with the 49ers in 2000-01 and the Raiders in 2003.