Judge: Sharper To Remain In California Jail
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Former NFL All-Pro safety Darren Sharper must remain in a Los Angeles jail without bail after he was indicted in Arizona on charges of drugging and sexually assaulting two women, a California judge ruled Thursday.
While making her decision, Superior Court Judge Renee Korn rejected a motion by Sharper's lawyers to release him on house arrest and said Arizona authorities want to extradite the Super Bowl champion to face trial in that state after he is tried on similar charges in California.
In Los Angeles, the 38-year-old Sharper has pleaded not guilty to charges involving the rape and drugging of two women he met in a West Hollywood bar.
He was previously released on $1 million bail in the California case but turned himself in on Feb. 27 after an arrest warrant was issued in New Orleans. He has not been charged in that state.
Sharper is also under investigation in Florida and Nevada. Sharper was indicted on Tuesday in Tempe, Ariz., on charges of drugging and raping two women in November.
Sharper's attorneys want a hearing to set bail in Arizona, but their client would have to be present.
"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, a Los Angeles County 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 nonconsensual 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.
Korn set another court appearance for Sharper for March 24.
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.
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