Professor in sex assault case testifies disabled man could communicate

Rutgers-Newark professor Anna Stubblefield took the witness stand on Wednesday at her trial on charges of sexually assaulting a disabled man

NEWARK -- While suffering from cerebral palsy and other disabilities, the 34-year-old man, known as D.J., has movement problems and he is unable to speak.

But on the witness stand Wednesday at her trial on charges of sexually assaulting D.J., Rutgers-Newark professor Anna Stubblefield said he was able to express himself through a controversial technique, known as "facilitated communication."

With Stubblefield's left hand under his elbow and her right hand on his right hand, Stubblefield claimed D.J. was able to communicate by typing on a keyboard.

At first, D.J. provided one- or two-word answers to her questions, but as his literacy improved, he was able to participate in conversations with her and others, according to Stubblefield. Through the typing method, D.J. also wrote papers that were presented at conferences, Stubblefield said.

Stubblefield said she wasn't getting paid for working with D.J., but after seeing her mother assist other individuals through facilitated communication, she wanted to do the same for D.J.

"I'd grown up watching my mother help people get access to communication and...discover what their actual intellectual potential was," she said. "I wanted to be helpful."

Stubblefield, 45, of West Orange, has been on trial on two counts of aggravated sexual assault. She is accused of abusing D.J. in her Newark office in 2011.

The state's experts have said D.J. suffers from intellectual disabilities and cannot consent to sexual activity, but Stubblefield has claimed she and D.J. fell in love and that he consented through facilitated communication.

Stubblefield met D.J. in 2009 through his brother, then a Rutgers student, who was taking a course of Stubblefield's and asked the professor about ways to help D.J. with his communication.

Stubblefield spent about two years working with D.J. before revealing their sexual relationship to his mother and his brother on May 28, 2011.

Rutgers placed Stubblefield on administrative leave without pay and stripped her of the title of chairwoman of the philosophy department after the sexual assault allegations surfaced.

Stubblefield, who is expected to continue testifying on Thursday, did not discuss the sexual acts during her testimony on Wednesday. 

But she said she began to have "romantic feelings" for D.J. in the spring of 2010. As Stubblefield and D.J. had conversations, she said she was "getting to know him a little bit better as a person."

Referring to an essay D.J. wrote for one conference, Stubblefield said "he had a way of putting things."

"He had a lot of raw potential," she said. "He had insights that he was struggling to express, but they were there and I was very impressed with that."

Stubblefield, who was married at the time, said "the marriage wasn't right," but she wasn't looking to end it. "I wasn't looking to be having feelings for somebody else," she said.

Stubblefield recalled an "awkward conversation" in which D.J. expressed concerns about her leaving him. Stubblefield said she would continue providing communication support to him and told him, "you're stuck with me for life till death do us part."

Stubblefield said she realized that phrase had romantic overtones and told D.J. she didn't mean it "that way." D.J. then typed, "I love you, but not in that way," according to Stubblefield.

Anna Stubblefield, 45, a Rutgers-Newark professor from West Orange, who is facing two counts of aggravated sexual assault for allegedly abusing a severely mentally disabled man in 2011 testifies in court. The trial is being heard before Superior Court Judge Siobhan Teare at the Essex County Courthouse in Newark. 9/23/15 (Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Ed Murray 

In the months leading up to the trial, one of the hotly contested issues was what Stubblefield could say about facilitated communication during her trial testimony.

Superior Court Judge Siobhan Teare barred expert testimony on the technique, because she determined it is "not a recognized science." The judge also warned Stubblefield to not take on an expert's perspective in her testimony about the technique.

Critics have claimed the method is ineffective, saying studies have shown the facilitators are controlling the users' movements. Several scientific organizations have declared the technique is invalid.

During her testimony on Wednesday, Stubblefield acknowledged that controversy. She said nine studies conducted in the United States in the early 1990s determined the method was invalid and that facilitators were influencing the users' responses.

But Stubblefield claimed 12 new studies between 1995 and about 2010 were performed that involved experienced users and facilitators and showed the method to be "a valid communication technique."

Soon after Stubblefield made that remark, Teare instructed the jury that no one could be qualified as an expert in facilitated communication under the state's court rules, because the method "has not met the standard required as a recognized field of science."

Stubblefield said she was first introduced to the technique through her mother, a professor emeritus of special education at Eastern Michigan University and a licensed psychologist, who was one of the first people to be trained in the method after its introduction in the United States in 1990.

Stubblefield said she assisted her mother in communication sessions, and later interacted with users of the method. In 2008, Stubblefield said she received training as a facilitator at Syracuse University in order to support her friends who were users.

During the 2009 course attended by D.J.'s brother, Stubblefield said she showed a video about facilitated communication.

After that particular class, the brother approached her about getting more information about the method, Stubblefield said. She said she encouraged him to visit a center at Syracuse University, but the brother said making such a trip would be difficult financially.

Stubblefield said she offered to look into how people in the New York City area could provide those services to D.J., but after doing some research, that option also proved to be cost prohibitive.

Ultimately, Stubblefield said she told the brother she had received some training and could meet with D.J.

After she started working with D.J., Stubblefield said "it was clear that he knew the alphabet and that he could spell at least very simple words." After initially making mistakes on the keyboard, D.J. then answered correctly, showing that he was a "fast learner," Stubblefield said.

Stubblefield said D.J.'s mistakes reassured her that she was not the author of the messages.

Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.