LA Judge Orders Ex-NFL Star Darren Sharper To Remain Jailed On New Ariz. Rape Charges
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/ AP) — A Southland judge Thursday ordered former NFL All-Pro safety Darren Sharper to remain jailed without bail in connection to new charges that he drugged and sexually assaulted two women last year in Tempe, Ariz.
The athlete has been in a Los Angeles jail since Feb. 27, when he turned himself in on an arrest warrant issued by Louisiana authorities on similar charges. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Renee Korn said last week that she could not hold Sharper indefinitely unless he was charged in New Orleans, which has not yet happened.
The Arizona indictment gave Los Angeles prosecutors another opportunity to argue that Sharper should remain in custody, despite being freed on $1 million after pleading not guilty to charges he drugged and raped two women in Los Angeles County.
In addition to the accusations in Arizona, California and Louisiana, Sharper remains under investigation that he drugged and raped women in Nevada and Florida. His attorneys have said they expect the former player to be exonerated in the Los Angeles case.
"We know that Darren will vigorously deny the allegations," Sharper's Arizona attorney Skip Donau said Wednesday. "We are hopeful of vindication."
In a bail motion filed last month, an investigator described a pattern in which the former football star met women at clubs or parties and lured them to a hotel room, where they were allegedly drugged and raped.
The New Orleans warrant says police learned from witnesses that Sharper and an associate had acknowledged having non-consensual sex with two women. Sharper's attorneys say he never made such statements.
The warrant does not elaborate on how the information was obtained or disclose the names of the witnesses.
Sharper was selected All-Pro six times and chosen for the Pro Bowl five times. He played in two Super Bowls, one with the Green Bay Packers as a rookie and was part of a successful championship run while with the New Orleans Saints.
He retired after the 2010 season and was working as an analyst for the NFL Network before being fired recently.
A new bail hearing has been set for March 24.
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