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Mike Tyson became a celebrity in his own right. He earned a big name in boxing, not to mention the wealth that he gained from the same sport. However, his fame waned when the front pages of the tabloids and newspapers feasted on his conviction story for allegedly raping one of the aspirants in the Miss Black America beauty contest. The Daily News read, “Mike Tyson, the world heavyweight champion at 19, last night became a convicted rapist at 25, after a jury found he attacked an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant in his hotel room here last summer.” On February 11, 1992, the issue of The Tech Online Edition bannered this headline, “Tyson Found Guilty of Rape, Two Other Charges”.
Before the rape case, there had been many emotional setbacks that affected so much Mike Tyson’s psyche. In February 1990, he lost a heavyweight title fight to James Douglas. Then, the tearing apart of his matrimonial bond with his wife, Robin Givens, who had accused him of domestic violence, added more troubles to his emotional instability. He displayed more and more erratic behavior, and there had been instances where he manifested attitudes which were unbecoming of a gentleman particularly in his dealings with women. Some people did not wonder if Mike Tyson had gone up to this point because even early in his childhood he had a problem with anger management. His skill in the sport of boxing and his being a heavyweight champion at an early age of 19, are viewed by some psychologists as part of his subconscious anger channeling. This also explains his insensitive and sometimes rude language. Now, people even started to joke with the idea that if Tyson could not be stopped in the ring, his addiction to sex and women surely put an end to it this time.
The unfolding story of the notorious rape case started from the time Mike Tyson attended the Miss Black America beauty contest in Indianapolis, where he was one of its honored guests and graced the occasion with his status as a celebrity. One of the contestants of that beauty pageant was “Desiree Washington, a college student from Rhode Island”. He had befriended her. In fact, during rehearsals of the pageant, he would go to the practice venue and met her there with the other beauties. “At a photo opportunity with the contestants, Tyson flirted with the women by grabbing and hugging them.”
Realizing that he had no date after having gone to watch a concert on that same night, Tyson called up Desiree Washington and invited her for a date in order to be acquainted with each other. After she agreed to his request, Tyson then fetched her with his limousine and on their way, he told her that he would just go up to his hotel room to get something that he left. Nonetheless, Washington accompanied him to his room. It was there that Tyson allegedly raped Washington.
Accordingly, after Washington had gone out of the toilet, she was shocked when Tyson “pinned her to the bed, telling her to relax as he forced himself upon her.” After 30 minutes from the time she arrived in Tyson’s room, she came out and later reported to 911 the incident of rape.
The following excerpt is what Desiree Washington had testified to during the trial when she was asked what had happened right after the alleged rape:
"He said, 'Don't you love me now?' and then, when I was leaving, and he asked me to stay, I said, 'Why, so you can do this to me again?' And he said - he said, 'You're just a baby, you're just a crybaby, that's all. You're just a baby, that's why you're crying, 'cause you're just a crybaby, that's all.' And then he said, 'Well, then it's a long walk back,' like almost trying to force me to stay, and I was throwing my clothes on as fast as I could at that time, and he just picked up the phone, and I assume he called the limo, but I was out of there."
On the part of the defense, the legal counsel of Mike Tyson interposed during the trial that the whole scenario was a consensual sex between him and Washington; hence, the allegation of rape was moot and academic. Simply put, there had been no rape at all since she freely consented to the sexual congress between them. Nonetheless, after the long trial, Mike Tyson was convicted of rape by the jury just the same. The court meted out a sentence of 10 years imprisonment for Tyson, but the judge suspended the 4 years. So, he served 6 years in prison, but the stigma of being branded as a rapist will continue to haunt him all his life. New York Times noted, “In Indianapolis, rape cases like Mr. Tyson's, where no weapon is used and the victim has no serious physical injuries, a 10-year sentence is common.”
After the conviction of Mike Tyson, the presiding judge said, "The law of Indiana is pretty clear, and it never mentions whether a defendant or a victim are acquainted." So, if this is the Indiana Law, no matter what angle we look at it, rape will always be rape. Since the law does not make any qualification, then conviction still sets in. In law, there is a Latin maxim, Dura lex, sed lex. The law may be harsh, but it is the law. There is no doubt, then, since it was the law which had been violated, it was the same law which convicted him. “Tyson hired Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard Law professor whom Time magazine once called the top lawyer of last resort in the country, to handle his appeal.”
Were there ramifications in this once celebrated case? This rape case cannot go down in history without repercussions or at least legal implications. From the context of the law, a clear-cut distinction between rape and consensual sex should be made; otherwise, many celebrities and prominent persons will suffer the same fate as Mike Tyson did. Considering the danger that this scenario poses, many money-oriented personalities will certainly take advantage of this weak point in the law. It may be remote, but in some sense, the social affiliation of the accused, or the race, to some extent affects the independence of mind of the jury. One author, who had been monitoring the Mike Tyson trial, observed, “I also know that his trial occurred in the context of an American justice system where black masculinity is demonized.”
There had been very significant aspects of the trial of the case which had greatly affected its outcome of conviction. Beginning from the over-zealous prosecutors to the defense lawyer and the victim herself, molded the decision of the jury. His legal counsel was no doubt top-caliber lawyer; nonetheless, his experiences as a legal practitioner were far different from one who had a lot of experiences in handling street crimes, like rape. Fernandez commented, “It was viewed by some as a miscalculation when Tyson’s defense was handled by Vincent J. Fuller.” For all we know, lawyers have also their line of expertise; he might be an expert in civil law, but he might not be well versed in the criminal law. In fact, Reverend Charles William, Tyson’s supporter was disappointed with the way the defense lawyer handled the case. In the interview with Desiree Washington, analysts found some missing points and inconsistencies. She was asked, “Your father, even though he was a fan of Mike Tyson's, said, "Go do it"?” She answered, “My dad is a bigger fan of mine.” The rule is, "If the subject didn't answer the question, the subject did" we can conclude that the subject's father didn't tell her, "Go do it".
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