Judge: ‘Grossly unfair’ to keep Darren Sharper in jail without bail
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered ex-NFL star Darren Sharper to remain in custody, but warned New Orleans officials that he cannot continue to be held indefinitely.
Sharper is being without bail on a New Orleans police arrest warrant for two rapes. Los Angeles Judge Renee Korn said that he must be charged by New Orleans prosecutors or the Louisiana governor must seek his extradition. She set a new hearing on the case for March 13.
Sharper, 38, has been charged by Los Angeles prosecutors with seven rape and drug counts in connection with two alleged attacks in Hollywood. He was taken into custody again last week after New Orleans police issued the warrant for his arrest in connections with two more alleged rapes.
Sharper had been out on $1-million bail for the Los Angeles charges until the move by New Orleans police.
On Friday afternoon, Sharper sat inside a glass-walled cage inside the courtroom; he wore an orange jail shirt and pants.
Korn said it is “grossly unfair” to hold Sharper in Los Angeles without bail on the New Orleans matter.
Sharper’s attorney Blair Berk said that Los Angeles prosecutors and New Orleans police were working together to keep the Super Bowl winner in custody without bail.
California law clearly requires either indictment, criminal charges or a governor’s request for extradition. Prosecutors there don’t have the evidence to charge him, Berk said.
Los Angeles prosecutors said they will not allow Sharper to be tried elsewhere until after their case is resolved.
New Orleans police issued an arrest warrant for Sharper and his friend — identified as Erik Nunez, 26 — after two women alleged that the men had sex with them while they “were under the influence of an unknown substance” on the night of Sept. 23.
The women said they were “substantially impaired by the substance to a degree that both do not recall the entirety of the sexual intercourse,” the warrant said. Both denied consenting to the sex, police said.
An Orleans Parish district attorney’s spokesman said Thursday that the case remained an open investigation and charges had not been filed.
In all, Sharper is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting at least eight women in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Tempe, Ariz. A ninth woman has accused him of sexual battery in Florida.
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