Dana Stubblefield, a 49ers star was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison Thursday for raping a prospective babysitter at his Morgan Hill home five years ago. The sentence was issued by Judge Arthur Bocanegra after denying the defense for rape case charges for a new trial. Last week, the Sixth District Court of Appeal denied a related petition filed on behalf of Stubblefield by his attorneys Kenneth Rosenfeld and Allen Sawyer, who plan to appeal their client’s conviction.
Jury found Stubblefield guilty of raping, with the threat of a gun, a woman identified in court as Jane Doe, who had come to his home to interview for a babysitting job on April 9, 2015. Stubblefield was also convicted of forcible oral copulation and false imprisonment. He has been held in the Santa Clara County Main Jail since the verdict.
Deputy District Attorney Tim McInerney also called on the testimony of two women who testified to being assaulted by Stubblefield. Their claims were not charged because of issues with statutes of limitation and jurisdiction.
Stubblefield’s attorneys continue to assert that they were stymied throughout the trial by Bocanegra’s refusal to allow them to present the crux of their defense their claim that Doe had engaged in paid sex with Stubblefield and that she was not intellectually disabled as portrayed by the prosecution.
After the sentencing, Sawyer emphasized that the jury rejected two felony charges alleging that Stubblefield exploited a woman who was mentally incapable of providing consent to sex. During trial, they also sought to show that Doe’s proficiency with websites and social-media stood in contradiction to the prosecution’s claims of her intellectual disability. In September, Bocanegra struck down a motion by the attorneys to disqualify him from presiding over the case, which was followed by the appellate court petition.
The defense attorneys clashed frequently with Bocanegra over the judge’s application of rape shield laws that prohibit a rape victim’s sexual history from being introduced as evidence to discredit them. Sawyer also contends that Stubblefield’s trial rights were compromised by coronavirus-related delays and courtroom measures, which he said created the damaging optics of a large Black man wearing a mask and sitting in isolation while a jury heard testimony and evidence.
Stubblefield began his 11-year lineman career in the NFL with the 49ers in 1993 as the league’s defensive rookie of the year, and later won the 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 2000-01 and the Raiders in 2003.
