Tyson Denies Charges

Mike Tyson took the witness stand Friday and emphatically denied virtually every allegation made by his accuser, an 18-year-old Rhode Island woman who said he raped her.

Of the alleged attack July 19 during the Miss Black America pageant in Indianapolis, Tyson’s accuser had testified that Tyson arranged a date with her, implying they would “see the sights of Indianapolis” during a ride in his limousine.

The following is Tyson’s version of how the date was made, under questioning by his attorney, Vincent Fuller:

Question: “Did you use sexually explicit terms in this conversation with her?”

Answer: “Yes.”

Q: “Would you tell us what you said to her?”

At that point, Tyson looked at Marion Superior Court Judge Patricia J. Gifford and said: “I will, if her honor will give me permission.”

Gifford nodded approval, and Tyson testified that he told the woman he wanted to have sex with her. Tyson said: “She asked me if we were going out for a movie or dinner. I said: ‘No, that’s not what I have in mind.’ I explained to her I wanted to (expletive) her.”

Tyson continued:

“She said: ‘That’s kind of bold.’ I told her that’s how I am. . . .”

The former heavyweight champion’s version of their encounter at his Canterbury Hotel room also differed markedly from his accuser’s.

Tyson said he performed oral sex and they had intercourse. Afterward, he invited her to stay.

Tyson’s accuser had testified that she went to Tyson’s room because he had told her he had to “pick up something.” She said when Tyson made a suggestive remark to her in his bedroom, she went into his bathroom, and when she came out, Tyson assaulted her.

But Tyson said Friday she went into the bathroom only after having sex.

The two then quarreled, he said, when he wouldn’t escort her to the lobby.

“I told her she was welcome to stay the night,” Tyson said. “She didn’t want to, because she had to get up early, just like I did. Then she got upset because I wouldn’t walk her downstairs. I told her I was just too tired.”

Fuller wrapped up his questioning with this exchange:

Question: “Mr. Tyson, did you at any time force (the woman’s name) to have sexual intercourse with you?”

Answer: “No, I did not. She never said ‘no’ or nothing.”

Tyson’s version of the limousine ride from the woman’s hotel to his hotel also differed from the woman’s. She testified she had rebuffed him when he kissed her in the limousine. Tyson said they were “kissing and touching.”

Tyson is charged with rape and two counts of criminal deviate conduct. If convicted, he faces a possible 60-year prison sentence.

Tyson will undergo cross examination today by chief prosecutor Greg Garrison. The case could be handed to the jury Sunday.

Before Tyson took the stand, three Miss Black America contestants testified his accuser had designs on Tyson’s wealth. Said one, Caroline Jones of Prairie View, Tex.: “When he walked into our dance rehearsal (the accuser) pointed to him and said: ‘That is $20 million.’ ”

Another witness, Tyson friend and singer Johnny Gill, who accompanied Tyson to the dance rehearsal on July 18, testified that Tyson’s behavior that afternoon was normal.

“Mike was being, basically, Mike,” he said. “He was putting moves on the contestants, touching the lower part of their bodies.”