Mike Tyson Convicted of Rape in 1992 Indianapolis Trial

Mike Tyson was convicted of rape on February 10, 1992, in Marion County Superior Court in Indianapolis, Indiana, following a high-profile 13-day trial that drew international attention to the heavyweight boxing champion.

The charges stemmed from an alleged incident on July 19, 1991, at the Canterbury Hotel in Indianapolis. The accuser was 18-year-old Desiree Washington, Miss Black Rhode Island and a contestant in the 1991 Miss Black America pageant. According to court records, Washington made a phone call at 1:36 a.m. reporting the incident.

Tyson was arrested in July 1991 and indicted on September 9, 1991, by a Marion County grand jury on five charges: one count of rape, two counts of criminal deviate conduct, and one count of confinement. The maximum possible sentence for these charges was 63 years imprisonment.

The trial began on January 26, 1992, before Judge Patricia J. Gifford. The prosecution team was led by J. Gregory Garrison, David Dreyer, and Barbara J. Trathen. Tyson's defense was handled by Vincent J. Fuller, Kathleen I. Beggs, and F. Lane Heard, with Alan Dershowitz later joining the appeal team. The jury was impaneled on January 29, and the trial lasted 13 days.

During the trial, Washington testified about the alleged assault. Tyson took the stand in his own defense and was cross-examined by prosecutor Garrison. Judge Gifford made several significant rulings: she excluded testimony about the victim's sexual history, denied three defense witnesses from testifying, and rejected the defense's request for an "honest mistake of fact" jury instruction.

The jury deliberated for nearly 10 hours before returning guilty verdicts on February 10, 1992. Tyson was found guilty of rape under Indiana Code 35-42-4-1(1) and guilty on two counts of criminal deviate conduct under Indiana Code 35-42-4-2(1). The confinement charge was dismissed during trial.

On March 26, 1992, Tyson was sentenced to 6 to 10 years in prison. He was assigned to the Indiana Youth Center (Plainfield Correctional Facility) in April 1992, despite being 25 years old at the time. Under federal law, he was registered as a Tier II sex offender.

Tyson served less than three years of his sentence before being released on parole in March 1995, credited with good behavior. His appeal to the Indiana Court of Appeals was denied by a 2-1 decision.

Throughout the proceedings and in the decades since, Tyson has maintained his innocence regarding the Washington case. In 2023, a separate allegation surfaced under New York's Adult Survivors Act related to an alleged 1991 incident involving a limousine and an Albany nightclub. That lawsuit was dismissed on procedural grounds on March 7, 2024; Tyson denied the accusation. Additionally, an unrelated 1989 allegation from Erinn Cosby resulted in no charges.

The 1992 conviction remains one of the most discussed criminal cases involving a high-profile athlete and continues to be referenced in discussions about celebrity, criminal justice, and accountability.

Sources

https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/44211700/woman-drops-lawsuit-accusing-mike-tyson-1991-rape

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Tyson

https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/mike-tyson-trial-1992

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/883/1213/1766706/