In July 1991, heavyweight champion Mike Tyson raped eighteen-year-old Miss Black America contestant Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel room, and in February 1992 an Indiana jury convicted him of rape and two counts of criminal deviate conduct. The Mike Tyson rape case sent him to prison for nearly three years, was affirmed on appeal, produced a confidential civil settlement, and left him a registered sex offender for life.
What Happened at the Canterbury Hotel
Indianapolis was hosting the Miss Black America pageant in July 1991, and Tyson was there as a celebrity guest. Washington had come from Rhode Island as a contestant. On July 18, Tyson appeared with the twenty-three contestants in a promotional taping, and later that evening he and Washington agreed to go out.
In the early morning hours of July 19, Washington accompanied Tyson to his room at the Canterbury Hotel. What happened next became the whole dispute of the case. Washington said Tyson pinned her down and forced her to have sex despite her repeated refusals. Tyson maintained the encounter was consensual. A medical examination afterward found two abrasions near the opening of Washington’s vagina, injuries a doctor described as consistent with forced intercourse.1Justia Law. Tyson v Trigg, 883 F Supp 1213 (SD Ind 1994)
The Indictment
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office presented the allegations to a grand jury on August 16, 1991. Washington and several fellow contestants testified over the next two weeks. Tyson’s legal team took the unusual step of having him appear voluntarily before the panel, a gamble that failed. On September 9, the grand jury indicted him on one count of rape and two counts of criminal deviate conduct.2Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Mike Tyson Case
The 1992 Trial and Conviction
The case went to trial in January 1992 before Marion County Superior Court Judge Patricia Gifford. J. Gregory Garrison, a former Marion County deputy prosecutor, was hired as special prosecutor to lead the state’s case.2Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Mike Tyson Case Tyson was represented by Vincent Fuller of the Washington, D.C. firm Williams & Connolly.
The Prosecution’s Case
Washington testified for several hours, describing how Tyson restrained her and forced intercourse despite her protests. The medical findings of vaginal abrasions consistent with non-consensual penetration corroborated her account.1Justia Law. Tyson v Trigg, 883 F Supp 1213 (SD Ind 1994) The prosecution also called hotel staff and pageant officials to establish the timeline and describe Washington’s visibly distressed state after she left Tyson’s room.
The Defense
Fuller argued the encounter was consensual and asked the judge to instruct the jury that if Tyson reasonably believed Washington had consented, that belief was a defense. Judge Gifford refused.3Justia Law. Tyson v State, 1993, Indiana Court of Appeals Decisions
The broader defense approach drew heavy criticism from legal observers. Rather than focus narrowly on consent, Fuller called witnesses who testified about Tyson’s crude sexual remarks and aggressive behavior around pageant contestants. The apparent theory was that Washington should have known what Tyson wanted when she went to his room. The effect on the jury was the opposite: it heard extensive testimony about exactly the sort of behavior consistent with the charged offense.
Fuller also sought to introduce evidence of Washington’s prior sexual history and her family relationships, arguing they suggested a motive to fabricate. The judge excluded both. Three additional women who came forward during the trial with testimony potentially helpful to Tyson were also barred from testifying.3Justia Law. Tyson v State, 1993, Indiana Court of Appeals Decisions
The Verdict
The jury of eight men and four women deliberated more than nine hours before returning a unanimous guilty verdict on all three counts.4The Washington Post. Jury Finds Tyson Guilty of Rape, 2 Other Charges
Sentence and Prison Time
Judge Gifford sentenced Tyson on March 26, 1992. She imposed ten years on each count, suspended four years from each, and ordered the resulting six-year sentences to run concurrently. She also imposed a $30,000 fine, the statutory maximum of $10,000 per count. Gifford denied bail pending appeal and ordered Tyson taken into custody immediately, telling him that “something needs to be done about the attitude you displayed here.”5Deseret News. Tyson Gets 6 Years In Prison For Rape
Tyson served at the Indiana Youth Center, a medium-security facility in Plainfield. He converted to Islam during his incarceration and took the name Malik Abdul Aziz. Good-conduct credit shortened his sentence, and he was released on March 25, 1995, after roughly three years inside, subject to strict parole supervision for years afterward.
The Appeals
For the appeal, Tyson replaced Fuller with Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz and his brother Nathan. The appeal argued that the trial judge had wrongly refused the mistake-of-fact instruction on consent, wrongly excluded the three late-arriving defense witnesses, and wrongly barred evidence about Washington’s sexual history and family relationships.3Justia Law. Tyson v State, 1993, Indiana Court of Appeals Decisions
The Indiana Court of Appeals heard argument on February 15, 1993, and on August 13, 1993, a divided panel affirmed the conviction 2–1.2Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Mike Tyson Case The dissenter would have ordered a new trial over the exclusion of the three witnesses, but the majority found no reversible error. The Indiana Supreme Court declined to take the case. Tyson then sought federal habeas corpus relief, which the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana denied.1Justia Law. Tyson v Trigg, 883 F Supp 1213 (SD Ind 1994) The conviction has never been overturned, vacated, or expunged.
The Civil Settlement
Washington also filed a civil lawsuit against Tyson seeking damages for the physical and emotional harm she suffered. Civil claims of this kind carry a lower burden of proof than criminal charges and aim to compensate the plaintiff rather than punish the defendant.
The case settled in June 1995, shortly after Tyson’s release. Dershowitz, still representing Tyson, declined to disclose whether money changed hands or how much.6The Spokesman-Review. Tyson, Washington Settle Media reports over the years have cited figures around $1 million, but the actual terms remain confidential. The settlement resolved all civil claims between the parties arising from the 1991 incident.
What the Case Left Behind
The criminal conviction carries permanent consequences beyond the prison sentence and the settlement. Tyson is a registered sex offender, a status that follows him wherever he lives. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement lists him in its Sexual Offender and Predator System with a status of “released, subject to registration.”7FDLE. FDLE Sexual Offender and Predator System Registration typically imposes restrictions on where a registrant can live and work, requires periodic check-ins with law enforcement, and makes the registrant’s name and address publicly searchable.
Washington largely withdrew from public life after the trial and rarely gives interviews. The case made her one of the most recognized sexual assault survivors in the country, and that recognition brought intense scrutiny and hostility from Tyson supporters who rejected the verdict. Tyson himself has addressed the case inconsistently over the years, at times expressing remorse and at other times maintaining his innocence or deflecting the question. The Indiana courts’ judgment stands.