|
 Sharper, who helped the New Orleans Saints win a 2010 Super Bowl
title, faces California charges of drugging four women and raping
two of them and is being held without bail in a Los Angeles jail. He
also was indicted this month by a grand jury in Arizona on rape and
drugging charges involving two more women.
California prosecutors have said in court documents that Louisiana
and Nevada were investigating Sharper on sex crime allegations, and
police in Miami Beach, Florida, said they too were investigating
him. He has not been charged in those states.
"The charges pending out of Arizona are sufficiently serious the
court is going to set ... no bail," said Los Angeles Superior Court
Judge Renee Korn.
Prosecutors in Arizona said last week they would not immediately
seek to extradite Sharper to their state, to allow California
prosecutors who were the first to charge Sharper to move forward
with their case against him.
But Los Angeles prosecutors said on Monday in court papers that a
formal extradition request was expected to be submitted to Arizona
Governor Jan Brewer on Wednesday, and would be processed by her
office.
Sharper's attorney, Blair Berk, expressed frustration over mixed
signals on whether Arizona would seek to extradite her client, who
has been in jail in Los Angeles since February 27, when he was taken
into custody on a police warrant from Louisiana.
"We believe we are facing an 'Alice in Wonderland' situation here;
Yes is no and no is yes," she said in court.
Los Angeles prosecutors have said they would ask to keep Sharper in
their jurisdiction to proceed first with their case, even if another
state formally seeks his extradition.
[to top of second column] |
In the California case, prosecutors say Sharper met two women at a
night club in October and took them to a Los Angeles hotel room,
where he served them drug-spiked drinks and allegedly raped one. He
is accused of doing the same with two other women in Los Angeles in
January.
The 38-year-old former defensive back and former analyst for the NFL
Network has pleaded not guilty to the California charges. During the
hearing on Monday, he sat behind a glass partition in an orange jump
suit and only spoke once when asked about setting a date for his
next hearing.
He is due back in court on April 15 for a hearing on the pending
extradition request from Arizona.
(Reporting by Dana Feldman, writing by Alex Dobuzinskis;
editing by
Cynthia Johnston and Ken Wills)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
