Ex-NFL Safety Darren Sharper to Remain Jailed in L.A.

Former NFL safety Darren Sharper, who is suspected of sexual assaults in several states,  will remain in a Los Angeles jail pending another court hearing next month, a judge said today.

Sharper, who is accused of drugging and raping two women he met at a West Hollywood nightclub, had been free on $1 million bail earlier this year. He surrendered to police Feb. 27 after an arrest warrant was issued by authorities in New Orleans on similar allegations.

Authorities in New Orleans, however, have not filed any charges against the Super Bowl winner. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Renee Korn warned prosecutors at an earlier hearing that she couldn't hold Sharper in jail "in perpetuity."

But on March 11, Sharper, 38, was indicted on sexual assault and drug charges in Arizona, and Korn ordered Sharper to remain jailed without bail. A series of hearings had been scheduled for Sharper this week, but they were delayed while the judge awaited the results of an Arizona hearing on Sharper's bail.

On Thursday, an Arizona judge ruled that Sharper was ineligible for bail on a sexual assault charge.

A spokesman for the Maricopa County (Ariz.) Attorney's Office told the Los Angeles Times prosecutors would seek to have Sharper moved to Arizona "once California is finished with him."

In light of the Arizona judge's ruling, Sharper today was ordered to remain jailed in Los Angeles. He is due back in court May 16, when a date will be set for a preliminary hearing -- which is held to determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial on the Los Angeles charges.

Sharper is charged in Los Angeles with two counts of rape by use of drugs, four counts of furnishing a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance. The charges involve two women he met at a West Hollywood club last Oct. 30 and two other women he encountered at the same club on Jan. 14, and also allege that the controlled substance used was the sleep medication zolpidem, the same medication named in the Arizona indictment.

The Arizona indictment alleges that Sharper "intentionally or knowingly engaged in sexual intercourse of oral sexual contact ... without the consent" of two alleged victims and that he "knowingly administered zolpidem" to three alleged victims last Nov. 21 in Tempe, Ariz.

After the Los Angeles case was filed Feb. 14, defense attorney Blair Berk said, "We look forward to the true facts being revealed in this case and we are hopeful that Mr. Sharper will be fully exonerated before this case is concluded."

Los Angeles County prosecutors had previously noted that investigations regarding Sharper were also being conducted in Las Vegas and Miami Beach.

A member of the league's 2000s All-Decade Team and a five-time Pro Bowl selection, Sharper was suspended from his job as an analyst with the NFL Network following his initial arrest.

Sharper played for the Green Bay Packers in 1997-2004, the Minnesota Vikings in 2005-2008 and the New Orleans Saints in 2009-2010. He was on the Saints team that won Super Bowl XLIV in February 2010.

--City News Service