SAN JOSE — Dana Stubblefield will remain in state prison for the time being after a Santa Clara County judge declined to make a bail ruling for the former San Francisco 49ers star, whose by an appellate court that found racial bias tainted his trial.

2020 rape conviction and sentence were overturned late last year

Superior Court Judge Hector Ramon declared Friday that he cannot grant bail or release for Stubblefield because the case remains under the jurisdiction of the Sixth District Court of Appeal, which vacated the conviction in a Dec. 26 opinion becomes final next month.

Stubblefield’s attorneys have sought to secure his release in the wake of the historic appellate decision, arguing that the state no longer has any grounds to keep him incarcerated, and that he should be allowed to remain free while county prosecutors decide whether to re-file charges.

In a motion filed to Ramon earlier this week, the attorneys asserted that the judge has the authority to order that Stubblefield be transferred from Corcoran State Prison — where he has served close to four years of — to county jail, and then grant his release on bail. That would effectively return Stubblefield to the same status that he had pretrial, which they argue is his current legal standing.

a 15-year sentence

“With the appellate court’s reversal, Mr. Stubblefield’s presumption of innocence is restored,” defense attorney Ania Williams wrote in the Jan. 14 court filing. “Detaining him without a valid conviction contradicts justice principles.”

At a Jan. 3 court hearing, Ramon said Stubblefield was in local jail custody, but that has since been determined to have been an errant statement, and records confirm that he was and continues to be held in prison custody at Corcoran.

A three-judge appellate panel ruled that was “legally invalid” after finding that the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office violated the Racial Justice Act when a prosecutor suggested to jurors in closing arguments that police opted not to search Stubblefield’s home for a gun because he was a famous Black man.