Editing Mike Tyson (section)

== Trial and incarceration ==
Tyson was arrested in July 1991 for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington at the [[Le Méridien Indianapolis Hotel|Canterbury Hotel]] in [[Indianapolis]]. Washington, who had previously been crowned "Miss Black [[Rhode Island]]",<ref name="latimes">{{cite news |last=Gao |first=Max |date=15 September 2022 |title=She was pilloried for accusing Mike Tyson of rape. A new TV show tells her side of the story |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-09-15/hulu-mike-tyson-desiree-washington-rape-trial-conviction |access-date=13 August 2024 |work=The Los Angeles Times}}</ref> was a contestant in the Miss Black America pageant, rehearsals for which were being held in the city. Tyson was charged with "one count of rape, two counts of criminal deviate conduct, and one count of criminal confinement—charges that carried a maximum sentence of 63 years."<ref name="Shaw">{{cite magazine |last=Shaw |first=Mark |date=10 February 2017 |title=A Lawyer's Look At The Mike Tyson Rape Trial |url=https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/longform/down-for-the-count-lawyers-look-mike-tyson-rape-trial/ |access-date=13 August 2024 |magazine=Indianapolis Monthly}}</ref> Tyson's rape trial at the [[Marion County, Indiana|Marion County]] superior court lasted from January 26 to February 10, 1992.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shipp |first1=E. R. |date=March 27, 1992 |title=Tyson Gets 6-Year Prison Term For Rape Conviction in Indiana |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/27/sports/tyson-gets-6-year-prison-term-for-rape-conviction-in-indiana.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129112454/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/27/sports/tyson-gets-6-year-prison-term-for-rape-conviction-in-indiana.html |archive-date=January 29, 2017 |access-date=January 26, 2017 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

Washington herself testified that Tyson had "called her around 1:45 a.m. to tour the city, then picked her up in his limo, took her back to his room, and made small talk as they both sat on the bed."<ref name="Shaw" /> After propositioning her for sex, Washington stated that she firmly refused and went to use the bathroom before leaving. "After using the bathroom, she said, she noticed some discharge on her panty shield. Washington said she removed the liner and threw it away."<ref name="Shaw" /> When she came out, "Tyson then pulled her to the bed, pinned her down and raped her, she testified. 'He was mean, evil,' she said. 'I got on top and started to try to get away, but he slammed me down again.'"<ref name="Shaw" /> "Three days after the assault, Washington went to the police and accused Tyson of rape."<ref name="latimes" /> Partial corroboration of Washington's story came via testimony from Tyson's [[chauffeur]], Virginia Foster, who confirmed Desiree Washington's "state of shock"<ref name="Shaw" /> after the incident. Foster also testified that Tyson had previously attempted to sexually assault her, too, having "lured her to his hotel room, tried to touch her, and then exposed himself".<ref name="Shaw" /> Further testimony came from the [[emergency room]] physician, Dr. Thomas Richardson, who examined Washington after the incident and confirmed that Washington's physical condition was consistent with rape.<ref>{{cite book |last=Heller |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zQeJ5T9cGoAC&pg=PA414 |title=Bad Intentions: The Mike Tyson Story |date=August 21, 1995 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-80669-8 |pages=414– |access-date=January 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208043925/https://books.google.com/books?id=zQeJ5T9cGoAC&pg=PA414 |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> Richardson testified that Washington had suffered "two small vaginal abrasions, consistent with 20 to 30 percent of the injuries seen in sexual assault cases",<ref name="Shaw" /> and that in approximately 20,000 cases over a period of 20 years, "only twice [...] had he ever seen such abrasions following consensual sex."<ref name="Shaw" />

Under lead defense lawyer [[Vincent J. Fuller]]'s direct examination, Tyson claimed that everything had taken place with Washington's full consent and he claimed not to have forced himself upon her. When he was cross-examined by lead prosecutor Gregory Garrison, Tyson denied claims that he had misled Washington and insisted that she wanted to have sex with him.<ref>{{cite book |last=Knappman |first=Edward W. |title=Great American Trials: The Mike Tyson Trial |date=1992 |publisher=New England Publishing Associates Inc. |isbn=1-57859-199-6 |location=Higganum, Connecticut}}</ref> "In a misguided attempt to show that Washington must have known that Tyson wanted sex, the defense called witness after witness to testify about their client's lewd remarks and crude behavior during his encounters with the Miss Black America contestants, and even with Washington herself."<ref name="Shaw" /> Former attorney Mark Shaw argued that Tyson's "case was mishandled, citing a jury-selection process that allowed a conservative [[United States Marine Corps|ex-Marine]] to become foreman, a defense "strategy" of making Tyson look as bad as possible, and a disastrous decision to allow the defendant to testify at the [[grand jury]] hearing, the trial, and his sentencing."<ref name="Shaw" />

Despite Fuller's reputation as:<ref name="Shaw" />

{{Blockquote|one of the most skillful and respected defense attorneys not only in Washington, but in the country [...] the defense team embarked on a game plan filled with ill-fated decisions and questionable strategies. [...] While the famous Fuller seemed to give Tyson an imposing advantage, his background made him an illogical choice. [...] Though he'd represented such notables as [[John Hinckley Jr.]] and junk-bond king [[Michael Milken]], his reputation came mostly from federal court [[white collar crime|white-collar cases]] such as tax fraud and bribery. He simply wasn't familiar with the rough-and-tumble county criminal courts, and lacked recent experience in sex-crime cases. He couldn't locate exhibits, fumbled his delivery, exhibited a lack of knowledge of Indiana law, and generally handled Tyson's defense more like a first-year law student than a seasoned pro.}}

Fuller had also successfully defended Tyson's manager, Don King, "against federal tax-evasion charges"<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=18 May 1992 |title=Tyson Scrapes Bottom |url=https://time.com/archive/6720275/tyson-scrapes-bottom/ |access-date=13 August 2024 |magazine=Time Magazine |publisher=Time USA, LLC |location=New York City}}</ref> in 1985, which may have been one of the reasons King chose him to represent Tyson. Tyson himself would later describe Fuller as "a horrible lawyer".<ref>{{cite web |last=Yuscavage |first=Chris |date=30 July 2012 |title=Video: Mike Tyson Still Hates the Lawyer Who Represented Him During His 1992 Rape Case |url=https://www.complex.com/sports/a/chris-yuscavage/video-mike-tyson-still-hates-the-lawyer-who-represented-him-during-his-1992-rape-case |access-date=13 August 2024 |website=Complex |publisher=Complex Networks}}</ref> According to Shaw, Fuller "never challenged obvious problems in Washington’s story. Exactly why did she remove her panty shield? How did Tyson perform oral sex on her and still keep her pinned to the bed? If Tyson is one of the strongest men in the world, where were the bruises on the 108-pound woman?"<ref name="Shaw" />

Tyson was convicted of the rape charge on February 10, 1992, after the jury [[Deliberation|deliberated]] for nearly 10 hours.<ref>{{cite web |last=Muscatine |first=Alison |date=February 11, 1992 |title=Tyson Found Guilty of Rape, Two Other Charges |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V112/N4/tyson.04w.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505214638/http://tech.mit.edu/V112/N4/tyson.04w.html |archive-date=May 5, 2010 |access-date=March 11, 2007 |via=MIT-The Tech |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

[[Alan Dershowitz]], acting as Tyson's counsel, filed an appeal urging error of law in the Court's exclusion of evidence of the victim's past sexual conduct (known as the [[Rape Shield Law]]; Dershowitz alleged that Washington had "falsely accused one of her high school classmates of rape"),<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=27 February 1993 |title=New Motions in Tyson Case |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/27/sports/new-motions-in-tyson-case.html |access-date=13 August 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> the exclusion of three potential defense witnesses, and the lack of [[jury instructions]] on honest and reasonable [[mistake of fact]].<ref name="Tyson v. State 1993">{{cite web |title=Tyson v. State&nbsp;— Leagle.com |url=http://www.leagle.com/decision/1993895619NE2d276_1891.xml/TYSON%20v.%20STATE |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402141908/http://www.leagle.com/decision/1993895619NE2d276_1891.xml/TYSON%20v.%20STATE |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |access-date=January 27, 2015 |publisher=leagle.com}}</ref> The [[Indiana Court of Appeals]] ruled against Tyson in a 2–1 vote.<ref name="Tyson v. State 1993" /> The [[Indiana Supreme Court]] let the lower court opinion stand due to a 2–2 split in its review. The tie vote was due to the fact that the Chief Justice, [[Randall T. Shepard]], recused himself from the case. The Chief Justice later revealed he did so because of a heated argument between his wife and Dershowitz at a Yale Law School reunion concerning the case.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tyson v. State |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/indiana/supreme-court/1993/49a02-9203-cr-129-4.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611183500/https://law.justia.com/cases/indiana/supreme-court/1993/49a02-9203-cr-129-4.html |archive-date=June 11, 2020 |access-date=June 11, 2020}}</ref> On March 26, 1992, Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison along with four years of probation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Shipp |first=E. R. |date=March 27, 1992 |title=Tyson Gets 6-Year Prison Term For Rape Conviction in Indiana |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/27/sports/tyson-gets-6-year-prison-term-for-rape-conviction-in-indiana.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420094909/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/27/sports/tyson-gets-6-year-prison-term-for-rape-conviction-in-indiana.html |archive-date=April 20, 2010 |access-date=May 12, 2010 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> He was assigned to the Indiana Youth Center (now the [[Plainfield Correctional Facility]]) in April 1992,<ref>{{cite news |date=April 16, 1992 |title=Mike Tyson Assigned To Indiana Youth Center |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1992/04/16/mike-tyson-assigned-to-indiana-youth-center/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020104655/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1992-04-16/news/9204160536_1_mike-tyson-youth-center-indiana-youth |archive-date=October 20, 2011 |access-date=August 27, 2010 |newspaper=[[Orlando Sentinel]]}}</ref> and he was released in March 1995 after serving less than three years of the sentence.<ref>{{cite news |last=Berkow, Ira |first=Ira |date=March 26, 1995 |title=After Three Years in Prison, Tyson Gains His Freedom |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/26/sports/boxing-after-three-years-in-prison-tyson-gains-his-freedom.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828062658/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/26/sports/boxing-after-three-years-in-prison-tyson-gains-his-freedom.html |archive-date=August 28, 2017 |access-date=February 11, 2017 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> [[Mike Tyson's prison tattoos|He left with prison tattoos]] of tennis player [[Arthur Ashe]] and Chinese communist leader [[Mao Zedong]]; Tyson also dates his tattoo of Marxist revolutionary [[Che Guevara]] to this time<!-- Actual timing ambiguous; see [[Mike Tyson's tattoos]]. -->.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoffer |first1=Richard |author1-link=Richard Hoffer |title=A Savage Business: The Comeback and Comedown of Mike Tyson |date=1998 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=9780684809083 |location=New York City |pages=[https://archive.org/details/savagebusinessco00hoff/page/36 36], [https://archive.org/details/savagebusinessco00hoff/page/266 266] |ol=689533M}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |title=[[Tyson (2008 film)|Tyson]] |date=2008 |last=Toback |first=James |author-mask=[[Toback, James]] (director) |type=Documentary film |language=en |publisher=[[Sony Classics]] |time=58:51}}</ref>

Due to his conviction, Tyson was required to [[sex offender registries in the United States|register]] as a Tier II [[sex offender]] under [[Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act|federal law]].<ref>{{cite news |date=April 3, 2002 |title=Tyson to register as sex offender |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1389708/Tyson-to-register-as-sex-offender.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817023238/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1389708/Tyson-to-register-as-sex-offender.html |archive-date=August 17, 2018 |access-date=April 4, 2018 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London, England}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=November 19, 2007 |title=Mike Tyson receives 1 day in jail, 3 years probation |url=http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1119mr-tyson1119-onUpdate.html |access-date=October 6, 2015 |work=[[The Arizona Republic]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Friess |first1=Steve |date=April 17, 2015 |title=One Survivor's Crusade Reveals a Plague of Errors in Nation's Sex Offender Registries |url=http://www.takepart.com/feature/2015/04/17/errors-sexual-offender-registries |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007095015/http://www.takepart.com/feature/2015/04/17/errors-sexual-offender-registries |archive-date=October 7, 2015 |access-date=October 6, 2015 |website=TakePart}}</ref> Tyson has continued to maintain his innocence. In 1992, Erinn Cosby, the daughter of comedian and actor [[Bill Cosby]], publicly accused Tyson of sexually assaulting her in 1989, although no criminal charges were ever sought.<ref>{{cite news |last=Roig-Franzia |first=Manuel |date=6 July 2016 |title=The forgotten story of when Bill Cosby's daughter accused Mike Tyson of rape |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-forgotten-story-of-when-bill-cosbys-daughter-accused-mike-tyson-of-rape/2016/07/06/bebc0afe-42c4-11e6-88d0-6adee48be8bc_story.html |access-date=13 August 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>