LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court has overturned the rape conviction of former San Francisco 49er Dana Stubblefield after finding that prosecutors made racially discriminatory statements during the black man’s trial.
The retired footballer was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison in October 2020 after he was convicted in 2015 of raping a developmentally disabled woman who prosecutors say lured to his home with the promise of a babysitting job.
The Sixth Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that prosecutors violated the California Racial Justice Act of 2020, a law passed during a summer of protests over the police killing of George Floyd. The measure prohibits prosecutors from seeking a criminal conviction or imposing a sentence on the suspect based on race.
Before the law was introduced, defendants seeking to challenge convictions based on racial bias had to prove “purposeful discrimination,” a legal standard that is difficult to achieve.
The appeals court said prosecutors used “racially discriminatory language,” prompting them to overturn Stubblefield’s conviction.
The case was “tainted with enormous errors from the moment we started the trial,” said Kenneth Rosenfeld, Stubblefield’s lead attorney.
In April 2015, Stubblefield contacted the then 31-year-old woman through a babysitting website and arranged an interview, prosecutors said.
The interview lasted about 20 minutes, according to a report from Morgan Hill police. She later received a text from Stubblefield saying he wanted to pay her for her time that day, and she returned home.
The woman reported to police that Stubblefield raped her at gunpoint, then gave her $80 and let her go. DNA evidence matched that of Stubblefield, the report said.
During the trial, prosecutors said police never searched Stubblefield’s home and never introduced a weapon into evidence because he was a famous black man and that this would “create a firestorm of controversy,” according to the appellate decision profession.
Saying that Stubblefield’s race was a factor in law enforcement’s decision not to search his home, prosecutors suggested the home would have been searched and a weapon found if Stubblefield had not been black, it said court of appeal. The reference to controversy also links Stubblefield to the events following Floyd’s recent killing on the basis of his race.
Defense attorneys said there was no rape, and Stubblefield said the woman agreed to sex in exchange for money.
“The trial had a biased judge who did not allow the defense’s evidence, the fact that she was a sex worker, to be heard in front of a jury,” Rosenfeld said. He called the incident a “transactional opportunity” between Stubblefield and the woman.
He will remain in custody until a hearing next week, when his lawyers will ask a judge to approve a motion to release him. Prosecutors have several options, including asking the court to stay their decision so they can appeal to the state Supreme Court or refile the charges.
The Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office said it was “reviewing the opinion.”
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 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 2000-2001 and the Raiders in 2003.