Former NFL player Dana Stubblefield found guilty of rape in California
On April 9, 2015, a woman who was 31 at the time traveled to Stubblefield’s home in Morgan Hill, Calif., for an interview about a babysitting job. The woman, identified as Jane Doe and portrayed by prosecutors as developmentally disabled, testified during the trial that, after she initially left the house following their meeting, he asked her to return so he could pay her $80 for travel expenses. When she returned, the 5-foot-3 woman said the 6-2, 290-pound Stubblefield led her into a first-floor bedroom, threatened her with “a small, black gun” and raped her. She immediately went to the Morgan Hill police department after the attack.
Stubblefield’s defense attorneys attempted to establish that the woman was not developmentally disabled — claiming she had a California driver’s license without restrictions, was fluent in social media and held down a number of jobs, among other arguments — and that the encounter was an instance of paid consensual sex. They also disputed whether Stubblefield used a gun during the attack, as no gun was presented as evidence and the woman testified that Stubblefield may have been holding a cellphone.
“This was a triumph of resilience,” Jeff Rosen, district attorney for Contra Costa County, said in a statement. “The victim has struggled her whole life with learning disabilities and challenges to be self-sufficient. If we are not fighting for her, then who are we fighting for? It has been a long road for this remarkable woman and we are thankful to the jury for providing her some closure and, for our community, justice after an unconscionable and violent crime.”
Allen Sawyer, one of Stubblefield’s defense attorneys, said he would appeal the verdict.
“We’re very disappointed in the verdict,” he said after the verdict was announced. “We are going to continue to fight. Mr. Stubblefield is resilient, and is a strong person who believes the system will work.”
Two other women testified during the trial that they had been assaulted by Stubblefield, as prosecutors sought to establish a pattern of violent behavior. One said Stubblefield sexually assaulted her in the back room of a California bar in 1996. That same year, Stubblefield told police responding to a domestic violence call that he had kicked his girlfriend who was trying to feed their infant daughter because “she didn’t need to be fed at that time of the morning” (the woman declined to file charges, telling police she didn’t want to damage his reputation).
Stubblefield was arrested by police in Virginia and charged with misdemeanor domestic assault in 2000 while playing for Washington’s NFL team (the case was dismissed for lack of evidence). In 2009, his former fiancee filed a restraining order against him, calling him “violent and unpredictable,” claiming he tried to knock her off her bicycle with his car and saying he had threatened her with “violence and death.” The next year, a federal judge sentenced Stubblefield to 90 days in jail for stealing her mail after he admitted that he had submitted a change-of-address form so the mail, including the woman’s unemployment checks, would be delivered to his residence.
Stubblefield, 49, played 11 seasons for Washington, the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders. The Associated Press named him the NFL’s defensive player of the year in 1997.
Read more on the NFL:
