Ex-prof convicted of assaulting disabled man gets new trial
NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey appeals court has overturned the conviction of a former Rutgers University professor who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a disabled man she said consented to the relationship by communicating on a keyboard.
The court also ruled Friday that Anna Stubblefield should get a new trial with a new judge.
Stubblefield testified at trial that she and the man were in love. He has cerebral palsy and can’t speak.
Prosecutors said Stubblefield used her position to take advantage of the then-29-year-old man.
Stubblefield was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
On appeal, her lawyer argued that an expert barred by the trial judge from testifying would’ve convinced jurors the man could consent to sex. Prosecutors called the expert the “godmother” of a “junk pseudoscience.”