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, …