Ex-49er’s alleged rape victim testifies
Lawyers argue over whether the woman is too developmentally disabled to have consented to sex
MORGAN HILL >> In halting sentences, a woman prosecutors called “intellectually disabled” described in court Wednesday how former football star Dana Stubblefield allegedly raped her when she went to his home seeking babysitting work.
“I was so scared,” the woman testified at a preliminary hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court, describing how he picked her up and put her on a bed. “I told him, let me go, I don’t want sex, I don’t want no money. I told him no, many times.”
Prosecutors in May 2016 charged Stubblefield, 46, a defensive tackle who played for the San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins and Oakland Raiders, with raping the woman on April 9, 2015, at his Morgan Hill home where she had gone to interview for the babysitting job.
Stubblefield has pleaded not guilty and publicly denied the five felony charges and gun enhancement that prosecutors say could lead to life in prison if he is convicted: forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, rape and oral copulation of a person incapable of consent, and false imprisonment.
During a news conference at his church last year, he said he is
“completely innocent of all these allegations” and that although he is “not a perfect man,” he vehemently denied raping the woman. His attorneys said the sex was consensual.
Stubblefield is in court this week for a preliminary hearing where a judge will decide whether the evidence is sufficient to warrant a trial on the charges.
Much of the questioning focused on the extent of the woman’s disability and the degree to which it might impair her ability to consent to sex.
The prosecution suggested Stubblefield was attracted by her online photo, showing her long dark hair and form-fitting t-shirt and pants. But prosecutors also say the ad hinted at her intellectual disability. She was 32 at the time, and claimed to have been providing child care 29 years.
Prosecutors said she had an IQ of 70, was in special education throughout school and was at a 4thgrade level when she received a certificate of completion from high school. Her family had received Social Security disability payments for her being “intellectually disabled,” and she was a client of Hope Services, which helps the developmentally disabled find work.
“A person with an IQ of 70 who is capable of consenting under peaceful circumstances can be unable to in highly stressful situations,” prosecutor Tim McInerny said.
However, McInerny is pursuing a two-track strategy. If a jury decides she was capable of consent, they can still convict Stubblefield on rape charges.
The defense team, led by Sacramento lawyer Seth Rosenfeld, contended she isn’t disabled to the point
“A person with an IQ of 70 who is capable of consenting under peaceful circumstances can be unable to in highly stressful situations.” — Tim McInerny, prosecutor
of being unable to consent to sex. She has a California driver’s license with no restrictions, and has held several jobs, including at at Safeway and delivering restaurant take-out for DoorDash. They also noted that the prosecution declined to introduce a report from one of their experts who found she was capable of consent.
The woman testified Wednesday that Stubblefield sought her through the online childcare service Sittercity.com. She said that after they finished the initial interview and she left his house, he texted her, saying he would like to pay her for having come up from Hollister. When she returned, she said, he gave her $80, then locked the front door and walked her into a first-floor bedroom.
She said Stubblefield threatened her with “a small black gun” and pulled her clothes down, and described the encounter as “nasty.” She is 5’3 and slim. He is 6’2 and more than 290 pounds.
“I said I want to go,” said the woman, who testified in short, choppy sentences. “He said I kill you. He a bad man.”
She said she went straight to the police afterward.
The defense contends she was capable of giving consent, did consent and suffers only from a speech impediment. They claim she was desperate for money and conducted computer searches related to being paid for sex.
Stubblefield’s lawyers said the woman’s brother and former stepfather will testify she is not disabled. They said she had more than four boyfriends, is sexually active and was capable of filing and representing herself in a smallclaims case.
“We believe she was to be paid for sex,” defense attorney Allen Sawyer said outside court. “I also believe there was no gun.”
The rape allegations are the latest in a string of legal woes for the former NFL star.
Stubblefield admitted to police he kicked his girlfriend while he was playing for the 49ers 20 years ago. He was arrested in 2000 on charges of assaulting his wife.
In 2008, Stubblefield was caught in the Balco scandal, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation for lying to federal agents about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.
A year later, a former fiancee obtained a restraining order against him, calling him “violent and unpredictable,” claiming he tried to knock her off her bicycle with his car, and that in phone calls he “threatened me with violence and death.” In 2010, Stubblefield was sentenced to 90 days in jail for stealing her mail, including her unemployment checks.
Earlier this week, a woman tearfully testified that Stubblefield sexually assaulted her in the backroom of a bar/restaurant in Capitola in 1996. The woman, who never reported the incident to police, said Stubblefield had pinned her down on the ground and had his hands up her skirt and shirt when a busboy came in the room, at which point he stopped, cursed her and went back to the bar.