Ex-NFL player in California court on rape charges

LOS ANGELES (AP) Former NFL All-Pro safety Darren Sharper has appeared in a Los Angeles court but back-to-back hearings on sexual assault allegations he faces were postponed to Aug. 8.

Sharper spoke only to answer a procedural question from the judge.

Wednesday's proceedings had been scheduled to set a date for a preliminary hearing of allegations that he drugged and raped two women he met at a West Hollywood nightclub.

The second hearing would have involved Sharper's extradition to Arizona, where he's alleged to have drugged three women and sexually assaulted them in Tempe in November.

He's also been investigated in Louisiana, Nevada and Florida, where authorities in May found insufficient evidence.

He has pleaded not guilty in California, and he and his lawyers have denied the allegations in the other states.