Super Bowl master and former San Francisco 49ers star Dana Stubblefield was released from the prison on Tuesday after his rape in 2020 was vacated by a California’s appeal.
Stubblefield, who is black, had his conviction overturned after the sixth appeals decided that prosecutors had made racially discriminatory statements during his trial.
The Sixth Appeal Court found that the prosecutor violated California’s law on racial justice of 2020, which was adopted during the summer of racial injustice after police killed George Floyd.
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San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield before a game against Minnesota Vikings at Candlestick Park. (US Today Sports)
Prosecutors said during the trial that police had never searched in Stubblefield’s house and had never introduced a gun in evidence and said it was because he was a famous black man and it would “open a storm of controversy” according to the decision of the appeal.
The court said that by deciding that Stubblefield’s race had been a factor in the law enforcement’s decision to refrain from seeking his house, prosecutors would have suggested that the house would have been sought and that a gun would not have been found if Stubblefield had not was black.
Stubblefield has been in prison since December because a judge in lower court said he had no jurisdiction to give bail or release.
Stubblefield’s release was awarded after the state attorney’s office and appeal office weighed in.
Santa Clara Superior Court -Judge Hector Ramon awarded Stubblefield’s release Friday.
California Appel Court overturning Super Bowl Champs rape
Former NFL football player Dana Stubblefield leaves a federal courthouse in San Francisco 18 January 2008. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
Stubblefield had served almost four years of his 15-year judgment.
“Finally, an innocent man is no longer sitting in a cage away from his family,” Stubblefield’s defense lawyer, Kenneth Rosenfeld, said in a statement.
Stubblefield was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison in October 2020 when he was convicted of raping a developmentally disabled woman in 2015, as prosecutors said he lured to his home with a promise of a babysitting job.
Defense attorneys claimed that no rape happened and Stubblefield said the woman accepted sex in exchange for money.
Stubblefield played in the NFL for 11 years and was appointed defensive Rookie of the Year with the 49s in 1993.
Oakland Raiders Defensive Tackle Dana Stubblefield during a game against Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland October 12, 2003. (Matthew Emmons/USA Today Sports)
The three-time pro bowler was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1997 after the recording of 15 sacks.
After five seasons of the 49s, Stubblefield played for Washington Redskins for three seasons before joining the 49s for two more seasons.
After his second stint with the 49s, Stubblefield played one season for Oakland Raiders before retiring after the 2003 season.
