Ex-NFL Star Darren Sharper arrested for suspicion of ?

Darren Sharper ? Case -- 5 BIG HOLES In Prosecution's Case


Darren Sharper's lawyer just filed legal docs blasting holes in the multiple criminal cases in which the former NFL star is accused of drugging and ? women. In the legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- attorney Blair Berk lays out some pretty interesting weaknesses in the cases:

1. Berk says in the legal docs the Miami Beach P.D. has declined to file ANY criminal charges against Sharper and the investigation is closed. Short story, the evidence just wasn't there.

2. Berk says in the L.A. case ... the ? kits showed the 2 female accusers had sperm and DNA from men other than Sharper on their clothing. Berk alleges the D.A. refuses to ante up the names or any other info about the mystery men.

3. Berk claims in the Arizona case the lead detective perjured himself by claiming Sharper's ? was found on the leggings of one of the accusers. The detective testified as if he was reading from a forensic report, but Berk says it was all a lie and he later fessed up to the lie.

4. According to Berk, one of Sharper's Las Vegas accusers -- we'll call her Sarah -- had rough sex with another guy within 24 hours of her encounter with Sharper -- this according to the guy. Berk says he admitted to cops he left visible injuries on Sharper's accuser.

What's more ... there are 2 Vegas accusers -- Sarah and Jane. Berk says neither woman complained about an alleged ? the day after. In fact, Jane never even hinted she had sex with Sharper. And get this. The guy who had sex with Sarah texted Jane the day after saying, "I'll have some handsome white boys for [Sarah] when she comes back on her next vacation." To that Jane replied, "[Sarah] went a little darker last night." Berk says it sounded NOTHING like a ? .

5. One of the key prosecution witnesses in the New Orleans case is under criminal investigation for allegedly drugging a woman at a bar and Berk says there's even video of him slipping something into her drink. The guy is critical to the prosecution's case, claiming to have been at the bar with Sharper's accuser at the very time Sharper allegedly spiked her drink.

Berk and Sharper will be in court Friday, asking a judge to order prosecutors to fork over all of the evidence that tends to show Sharper is innocent.

Darren Sharper ? case dropped in Miami Beach

Former NFL star Darren Sharper will not face ? charges in Miami, authorities announced Thursday, citing a lack of evidence.

The decision regarding the case in Miami Beach was not a surprise, largely because the alleged victim did not file a complaint until more than three months after the alleged incident last fall.

Sharper, 38, still faces charges in Tempe, Ariz., and Los Angeles, where he has been in jail without bail on similar date-? charges since Feb. 27. He also has been under investigation for other alleged date rapes in Las Vegas and New Orleans, though no charges have been filed in those cases.

The Florida case could be revived if new evidence arises. But the assistant state attorney in Miami said no criminal charges should be filed at this time against Sharper for the following reasons:

"It is one on one allegation. It is a delayed disclosure. The subject has made no admission...No physical evidence. Inconsistent statements made by the victim regarding knowledge of the people she was with night/morning of the incident as well as her description of the sex itself. No corroborating witnesses, despite detective's best efforts to locate the people the victim said were present the night/morning of this incident."

Sharper is due in court again Friday in Los Angeles, where his attorneys have been trying to get him released on bail. One of their latest moves has been to accuse an Arizona detective of giving misleading testimony in court last month that helped keep Sharper behind bars.

In the Arizona case, a grand jury indicted Sharper, charging him with drugging and ? two women last November. The Arizona charges didn't provide for bail, a stipulation cited by a Los Angeles judge when she ruled Sharper should remain locked up there indefinitely.

Sharper's attorneys argued in a hearing in Tempe last month that the evidence wasn't strong enough in that case to deny him bail. A judge disagreed after hearing testimony from Det. Kevin Mace, a witness for the prosecution.

"The court finds proof evident and the presumption great that Victim B was the victim of a sexual assault committed by Mr. Sharper," Judge Warren Granville said then.

In making his ruling, Granville cited evidence that showed DNA that partially matched Sharper's DNA was found inside the ? of a woman referred to in court documents as Victim B. According to Mace's testimony, Victim B did not know Sharper before the night of the incident and had no recollection of what happened to her after consuming a drink made by Sharper in the apartment.

Sharper's attorney, Skip Donau, said no sperm was found on any of the alleged victims in Arizona. But Arizona prosecutor Yigael Cohen countered that with testimony from Mace about Sharper having had a vasectomy, which could explain the lack of sperm. Mace said he learned of the vasectomy from Los Angeles police and Victim A, the other alleged ? victim in Arizona who had a previous sexual relationship with Sharper.

After the hearing, Mace advised Cohen that he misspoke when he said in his testimony that Los Angeles police told him they had medical records about the vasectomy. He confirmed Victim A told him about the vasectomy. Sharper's attorneys have not denied Sharper has had a vasectomy, but said Mace's inaccurate statement about where he learned about this information taints his testimony.

"Detective Mace has lied under oath, which has caused Mr. Sharper to be held without bond," Sharper's attorneys state in asking the Arizona court to reconsider its decision to deny Sharper bail.

Sharper's attorneys also said Mace gave misleading testimony when he said there was DNA in the form of ? on Victim B's leggings matching Sharper's DNA. Under questioning from Donau, Mace clarified this statement to say the DNA was in the form of prostate-specific antigen, which is a constituent of ? and is produced in the male prostate, but also can be found in other sources, such as blood.

Such arguments might not sway the court to change its decision, however. In making his ruling, Granville did not cite the DNA on the leggings and specifically mentioned that he was giving no weight to the testimony about the vasectomy.

Law enforcement authorities allege a similar pattern with Sharper: They say he partied with his victims, then ? them while they slept after he spiked their drinks with a sleep aid. Sharper has pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles.

Sharper initially was arrested in Los Angeles on Jan. 17 on suspicion of ? two women there in October and January. He posted $200,000 bail, which later increased to $1 million after other pending cases came to light. After authorities in New Orleans issued a warrant for his arrest, Sharper surrendered in Los Angeles on Feb. 27. In March, Los Angeles Judge Renee Korn indicated she would release him on bail if New Orleans authorities did not soon file formal charges against him. They did not, but then came the Arizona indictment, which has kept him in jail.

Darren Sharper, 2 others indicted in New Orleans ? cases

Former Saints safety Darren Sharper and two other men could face life sentences after being charged Friday in a nine-count grand jury indictment stemming from multiple ? allegations in New Orleans.

Sharper was indicted on two counts of aggravated ? stemming from accusations that he sexually assaulted two impaired women at his downtown luxury apartment on Sept. 23, 2013. Sharper was additionally charged with simple ? of a different woman on Aug. 31, 2013.

Brandon Licciardi, a deputy with the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office and friend of Sharper's, was indicted on a charge of aggravated ? of a woman on Feb. 2, 2013. Licciardi additionally was charged with three counts of human trafficking for the purposes of providing sexual conduct, and with one count of battery with a dangerous weapon for an incident investigators said occurred on Nov. 17, 2013.

Erik Nunez of Metairie, another Sharper acquaintance, was charged with two counts of aggravated ? for his alleged involvement with the two women at Sharper's apartment on Sept. 23, 2013. Nunez also was charged with obstruction of justice for actions alleged to have occurred between Sept. 23, 2013, and Feb. 28, 2014.

New Orleans police obtained arrest warrants for Sharper and Nunez on Feb. 27, five months after a woman first accused the former football star of ? her after a night of drinking. An arrest warrant accused Sharper and Nunez of having sex with two passed out women "without their knowledge or consent" early on Sept. 23, 2013.

Sharper, 39, has been jailed in California since Feb. 27, awaiting his next hearing there on charges that he drugged and ? two women in Los Angeles County. He has also been indicted in Arizona on charges he drugged three women and sexually assaulted two of them in their apartment in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. Similar accusations in Las Vegas remain under investigation.

The Los Angeles charges include two counts of ? by use of drugs, four counts of furnishing a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance, all felonies. If convicted on the California charges, Sharper could face more than 30 years in state prison.

The Louisiana case now moves to the top of Sharper's concerns. If convicted of aggravated ? in Louisiana, Sharper, Nunez and Licciardi each could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Karen Herman set bond for Sharper and Nunez at $2.5 million. Licciardi's bond was set at $2.9 million.

Darren Sharper pleads in Arizona, L.A.

LOS ANGELES -- Former NFL star Darren Sharper pleaded no contest Monday in Los Angeles to charges of drugging and ? two women in the second of similar criminal cases in four states.

Earlier, he pleaded guilty by video link to sexual assault in Arizona and was sentenced to nine years in federal prison.

In the Los Angeles case, he will have to serve 50 percent of a 20-year sentence. With credit for time served it will come down to about nine years, his attorney said.

The sentences will be served concurrently in federal prison under the agreement.

In the Arizona case, Sharper admitted sexually assaulting one woman and trying to attack another in suburban Phoenix in 2013. It is very unusual to sentence defendants immediately after a guilty plea, which normally can take weeks or months.

Sharper appeared in a Phoenix courtroom by videoconferencing from Los Angeles, where he has been jailed since February 2014 after initially pleading not guilty to drugging and ? two women there in 2013.

Similar hearings will follow in Las Vegas this week and in New Orleans in the next month. In each state, he's accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women when they were unconscious or otherwise unable to resist or consent.

Sharper's attorney announced Friday that the former player reached plea agreements with prosecutors in all the cases against him.

The 39-year-old retired from the NFL in 2011 after winning a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints. He had a 14-year career with three teams and later worked as an analyst for the NFL network.

The alleged sexual assaults all happened since Sharper's retirement as a player.

In Arizona, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Warren Granville said that Sharper will serve his time in federal custody and that the Louisiana case will be resolved through a federal court.

Sharper admitted sexually assaulting one victim and trying to assault another in Arizona, though police say he drugged three women and sexually assaulted two of them at an apartment in Tempe in November 2013.

Prosecutor Yigael Cohen on Monday cited a letter in which one of the victims says she suffered emotional harm as a result of the attack and that she didn't have the ability to resist.

Authorities say a search of the Tempe apartment turned up a shot glass with a white residue that turned out to be the sedative zolpidem, and California investigators discovered that Sharper had a prescription for the drug.

Sharper's attorneys said last year that their client did not make the drinks that authorities say he used to drug the women.

One of the women told police she had not had any alcohol that night until Sharper insisted she drink a shot. Another young woman said she had been drugged, then went to bed, locked her door and was not attacked.

The next day, one of the women confronted Sharper, who denied wrongdoing, according to police reports.

The reports said Sharper was in Arizona to visit a woman who lived at the apartment. The two had met about a year earlier in Las Vegas.

Prosecutors in Nevada, where Sharper is scheduled to change his plea Tuesday, said the former player is expected to plead guilty to one felony charge of attempted sexual assault, with the expectation that he will face between 38 months and eight years in prison, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told The Associated Press.