Last month, a California appeals court overturned the rape conviction of former NFL defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield. On Friday, a judge nevertheless refused to release him from prison.
Via the Associated Press, Santa Clara County’ Superior Court Judge Hector Ramon ruled on Friday that he was unable grant bail to Stubblefield or set him free because the appeals court has yet to officially send the case back to the trial court for action.
The formal action, known as a remittitur, is expected next month.
It seems odd, and unfair. The ruling from the appeals court wipes out the conviction. Shouldn’t that be enough? And if there’s a magical piece of paper that needs to be pushed from the higher court to the lower court, why wait?
“As he sits here, everything has been vacated, he has been convicted of nothing, and a legally innocent man is sitting in prison because we’re waiting on a time clock,” said attorney Ken Rosenfeld, who represents Stubblefield.
Stubblefield has served more than four years of a 15-to-life sentence imposed after his conviction. The verdict was overturned because prosecutors used “racially discriminatory language” during the trial. Specifically, they said that police didn’t search Stubblefield’s house for a gun that was allegedly used in connection with the crime because doing that to a Black man would “open up a storm of controversy.”
The 1997 NFL defensive player of the year and the 1993 NFL defensive rookie of the year, Stubblefield played for the 49ers, Washington, and the Raiders in an 11-year career.
The case could be re-filed, and Stubblefield could be tried and convicted again. Until he is, he’s not guilty of anything.