Sharper charged with sexual assault
— -- Former NFL safety Darren Sharper has been charged with two counts of sexual assault in Arizona stemming from allegations he raped two women in Tempe in November.
According to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Tempe detectives submitted the case to a grand jury, which decided there was enough evidence to charge Sharper with a crime.
Sharper is facing seven rape and drug counts in two alleged attacks in Los Angeles. He pleaded not guilty in that case and was freed on $1 million bail.
However, he was jailed again in Los Angeles because an arrest warrant went out for him on two aggravated rape charges in New Orleans.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Renee Korn last week set a hearing for Thursday to give Louisiana prosecutors time to charge Sharper or for that state's governor to seek his return through another type of warrant.
Leonard Levine, a lawyer for Sharper in Los Angeles, has said Sharper will be cleared in the cases.
"All of these were consensual contact between Mr. Sharper and women who wanted to be in his company," Levine said after a court hearing last month.
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 last week.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
