LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California appeals court has overturned the rape conviction of former San Francisco 49ers player Dana Stubblefield after finding that prosecutors made racially discriminatory statements in the Black man’s trial.

The retired soccer player was sentenced in October 2020 to 15 years to life in prison after being convicted in 2015 of raping a developmentally disabled woman whom prosecutors said he lured to his home with the promise of a babysitting job.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found Wednesday that prosecutors violated the California Racial Justice Act of 2020, a law passed during a summer of protests over the police killing of George Floyd. The measure prohibits prosecutors from seeking a criminal conviction or imposing a sentence based on race.

Before the law was introduced, defendants seeking to challenge their racial bias convictions had to prove that “intentional discrimination” occurred, a difficult legal standard to meet.

The appeals court said prosecutors used “racially discriminatory language” that required them to overturn Stubblefield’s conviction.

The case was “enormously flawed from the start,” said Stubblefield’s lead attorney, Kenneth Rosenfeld.

In April 2015, Stubblefield contacted the then-31-year-old woman through a babysitting website and arranged an interview, prosecutors said.

According to a report from the Morgan Hill Police Department, the interview lasted about 20 minutes. She later received a text message from Stubblefield saying he wanted to pay her for her time that day, and she went back to the house.

The woman told police Stubblefield raped her at gunpoint, then gave her $80 and let her go. The DNA evidence matched that of Stubblefield, the report said.

During the trial, prosecutors said police never searched Stubblefield’s home and never used a gun as evidence. This is because he is a famous black man and this would “cause a storm of controversy,” the appeal decision said.

By saying Stubblefield’s race was a factor in law enforcement’s decision not to search his home, prosecutors implied that the home would have been searched and a gun found if Stubblefield had not been black, the appeals court said. The reference to controversy also links Stubblefield to the events following the recent killing of Floyd due to his race.

Defense attorneys said there was no rape and Stubblefield said the woman agreed to sex in exchange for money.

“In the trial, there was a biased judge who did not allow the defense’s evidence, the fact that she was a sex worker, to be heard by a jury,” Rosenfeld said. He called the incident a “transaction” between Stubblefield and the woman.

He will remain in custody until a hearing next week, where his lawyers will ask a judge to approve a request for his release. Prosecutors have several options, including asking the court to stay their decision so they can appeal to the state Supreme Court or refiling the charges.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said it was “reviewing the report.”

Stubblefield began his 11-year NFL lineman career with the 49ers in 1993 as the league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year. He later won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 1997 before leaving the team to play for Washington. He returned to the Bay Area to finish his career, playing with the 49ers in 2000-01 and the Raiders in 2003.