A state appellate court has overturned the conviction of a former Rutgers University professor who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a disabled man who she said had consented to the relationship by communicating on a keyboard.
The three-judge panel also ruled Friday that Anna Stubblefield should get a new trial overseen by a new judge.
Stubblefield's lawyer argued that an expert barred by the trial judge from testifying would have convinced a jury that the man could consent to sex. But prosecutors said the judge's ruling was correct, calling the expert the "godmother" of a "junk pseudoscience."
Prosecutors say Stubblefield used her position to take advantage of the then-29-year-old man, who has cerebral palsy and can't speak.
Stubblefield testified at trial that she and the man were in love. She was convicted in October 2015.
