Former 49ers star Dana Stubblefield refused bail

SAN JOSE — Dana Stubblefield will remain in state prison for now after a Santa Clara County judge declined to make a release decision for the previous San Francisco 49ers star, whose 2020 rape conviction and sentence was overturned by an appeals court late last yr found that racial bias marred his trial.

Superior Court Judge Hector Ramon said Friday that he couldn’t grant Stubblefield bail or release since the case stays under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned the conviction in a Dec. 26 opinion and can turn out to be legally binding next month.

Stubblefield's lawyers have been attempting to secure his release following the historic appeal decision, arguing that the state not has any reason to maintain him incarcerated and that he needs to be allowed to stay free while district attorneys consider a brand new one determine whether to prosecute.

In a motion filed with Ramon earlier this week, attorneys contended that the judge had the authority to order Stubblefield's transfer from Corcoran State Prison – where he served nearly 4 years of his 15-year sentence – to the county jail then grant his release on bail . This would effectively restore Stubblefield to the identical status he had before the trial, which they claim is his current legal status.

“The appeals court’s reversal restores Mr. Stubblefield’s presumption of innocence,” defense attorney Ania Williams wrote within the Jan. 14 court filing. “To detain him without a valid conviction is contrary to the principles of justice.”

At a court hearing on Jan. 3, Ramon said Stubblefield was in local jail custody, but that statement has since been determined to be an erroneous statement and records confirm he was held in custody in Corcoran and stays incarcerated.

A 3-judge appeals panel ruled that Stubblefield's conviction was “invalid” after finding that the Santa Clara County district attorney's office violated the Racial Justice Act when a prosecutor suggested to jurors in closing arguments that police had done so decided not to look Stubblefield's house for a gun because he was a famous black man.

The appellate ruling concluded that for this reason decision, race expressly affected the supply of evidence that the jury could consider in determining Stubblefield's guilt. He was accused of threatening with a gun after which raping a lady who got here to his Morgan Hill home to interview for a babysitting job in 2015.

Stubblefield – who played for the 49ers from 1993 to 2001 – and his defense team have long claimed that he had a paid sexual encounter together with his accuser, identified within the appeal decision as Jane Doe, and that he initially lied to get it But she never tried to cover up the rendezvous.

At trial, Doe testified that after she and Stubblefield finished an initial interview and he or she left his house, he texted her and said he desired to pay her to travel from Hollister. Doe had said that when she returned, he gave her $80, then locked the front door, carried her to a second-floor bedroom and abused her. Stubblefield's lawyers disputed Doe's statements and argued that the explanation she returned to the house was to gather money for paid sex.

The Racial Justice Act of 2020, authored by San Jose Rep. Ash Kalra, went into effect in 2021 and makes it illegal to acquire a conviction “based on race, ethnicity, or national origin.” The law allows for legal challenges to charges, convictions, and sentences found to have been influenced by systemic bias. The appellate ruling for Stubblefield marked Santa Clara County's first major overturn under the law.

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