Former NFL star Dana Stubblefield's 2020 rape conviction was overturned on Thursday by an appellate court, citing improper racial considerations during the trial.
Stubblefield, 54, had been convicted of raping a woman who came to his Morgan Hill home in 2015 to interview for a babysitting job. He was serving a 15-year-to-life sentence.
The court ruled the conviction invalid under California's Racial Justice Act, after court documents revealed that the prosecutor argued against searching Stubblefield's home for evidence, saying doing so would "open up a storm of controversy" because Stubblefield is Black. The prosecutor also implied his race afforded him an undeserved advantage at trial, KRON reported.
The victim, a 31-year-old woman identified as Jane Doe, has intellectual disabilities and struggled to articulate her testimony clearly. She alleged that Stubblefield locked her in a room, threatened her with a gun and sexually assaulted her. Stubblefield denied the accusations, claiming the encounter was consensual and involved payment.
The court cited failures in the investigation, including failure to search Stubblefield's home for the alleged firearm. These issues, combined with the prosecutor's comments, raised concerns about racial bias influencing the case.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office will now decide whether to re-prosecute Stubblefield, a former Defensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl champion who played for the San Francisco 49ers and other teams during his NFL career.
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