Darren Sharper returns to L.A. court on rape case
AP
7:30 a.m. EDT March 15, 2014
LOS
ANGELES (AP) — Former NFL All-Pro safety Darren Sharper returns to
court Thursday for a hearing that will determine whether he's released
on bail amid new charges that he drugged and sexually assaulted two
women last year in Arizona.
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 indictment in Tucson, Ariz., will give 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. District
Attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison declined comment on how prosecutors
would treat the new charge in court Thursday, but prosecutors have said
they want their case handled before any others.
MORE: Arizona indicts Sharper on 2 more rape counts
SHOCKING: Sharper's message on women's safety
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."
LEGAL LIMBO: Sharper in jail in Los Angeles
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 nonconsensual sex with two women.
Sharper's attorneys say he never made such statements.
SHARPER'S ATTORNEY: Said acts were consensual
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.
In Arizona, the Tempe Police Department said a grand jury in metro
Phoenix had indicted Sharper after sexual assaults committed in Tempe in
November.
Police didn't release any other details of the charges. The
indictment has not yet been publicly released. A call to the county
prosecutor's office, which runs grand jury investigations, wasn't
immediately returned.
Police reports released earlier said two women believed they were
sexually assaulted by Sharper at a Tempe apartment on Nov. 21. One of
the women told police she suspected she had been drugged before she was
attacked.
It's not known whether Sharper has a lawyer in Arizona.
Prosecutors in New Orleans said Wednesday there will not be an
indictment of Sharper there by Thursday, a deadline set by a California
judge who said she would have to release Sharper if charges weren't
filed by then in Louisiana.
Edited by Bonjour baby ooowee - Mar 15 2014 at 12:46pm
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carolina cutie wrote:
HOWEVER it woke me up & makes me HIGHLY aware of men i consider dating (if i didnt need to be reminded i already think im the 70's black detective "christy love")
BUT here's the news he WILL be havin sex just not the way he wants NO MORE
