Dana Stubblefield: California appeals court overturns former NFL star’s rape conviction

CNN
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A California appeals court has overturned the rape conviction of former San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield — finding it “legally void” — because of racial bias.

On Thursday, Santa Clara County’s Sixth District Court vacated the former NFL star’s conviction and prison sentence, saying prosecutors’ statements at trial “constituted ‘racially discriminatory language about’ Stubblefield’s race” and violated California Racial Justice Act of 2020making it illegal to obtain a conviction “on the basis of race, ethnicity or national origin.”

In 2020, Stubblefield was sentenced to 15 years to life after a jury found him guilty of rape with a firearm, oral copulation by force and false imprisonment after prosecutors said he lured an intellectually disabled woman. to her home in April 2015 with the promise of a babysitting job.

During the trial, the prosecution had alleged that Stubblefield had threatened the woman with a gun. In closing arguments, delivered eight weeks after George Floyd was killed by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, a prosecutor said police did not search Stubblefield’s house after the woman reported the incident, based in part on the fact that he was a famous black man and doing so would have caused “a firestorm of controversy,” according to a lawsuit.

After the 2020 conviction, Allen Sawyer, one of Stubblefield’s trial attorneys, told CNN that he “firmly believe(d)” that his client is innocent.

In its Thursday opinion overturning the conviction, the appeals court wrote: “The opinion implied that the house might have been searched and a gun found if Stubblefield had not been black, and that therefore Stubblefield obtained an undue advantage at trial because he was a black man .

“Second, the claim that a search would ‘open up a storm of controversy’ implicitly referenced the events that followed George Floyd’s then-recent killing, appealed to racially biased perceptions of those events, and associated Stubblefield with them based on his race,” it added.

CNN has reached out to the California Attorney General for comment.

In a statement to CNN, Stubblefield’s attorney, Joseph Doyle, said, “We are all extremely grateful for the court’s decision and what this means for Mr. Stubblefield and his family. This reversal is a significant development for those facing potential racial bias in the legal system, and the Court’s thorough and considered opinion demonstrates a commitment to addressing these complex issues, and sets a strong precedent for future cases.

“Unfortunately for Mr. For Stubblefield, the racial undertones of the case were just one of many problems with his conviction. There was also an enormous amount of evidence that was excluded by Mr. Stubblefield’s trial, which would have fundamentally changed the prosecution’s narrative. But we look forward to correcting these mistakes when we return to the court of law.”

In an interview with Bay Area News GroupSawyer said Thursday, “We’re over the moon. We knew from the day we walked out of this courtroom, when the jury came back, that this wasn’t over, that this wasn’t going to stand.”

Sawyer also told the news outlet, “The context of this case was so unfair, layer upon layer, but we’re happy and we can’t wait to get Dana out of custody. We expect that to happen soon.”

The Santa Clara County District Attorney will decide whether there will be a new trial, although there is no timetable for a ruling. When CNN reached out for comment, the county District Attorney’s office said it is “studying the statement.”

The now 54-year-old was a first-round draft pick in 1993 for the 49ers, spending a total of seven years in two stints on either side of a three-year stint with the then-Washington Redskins. He ended his career after spending one season with the Oakland Raiders in 2003, retiring due to injury shortly after being signed by the New England Patriots in 2004.

He won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 1997, made three All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams, and he won a Super Bowl ring with the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX.