Indiana Court Decisions Tyson

The Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to consider the rape conviction of former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

The justices issued a one-page order that gave no reason for not reviewing an appeals court decision upholding Tyson’s conviction and six-year sentence.

The five-member court divided 2-2. Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard withdrew from the case last year and didn’t participate in the vote.

Court rules require a majority vote before a case can be heard. The Supreme Court is required to review criminal cases only when a prison sentence is 50 years or longer or in death penalty cases.

“The idea that an evenly divided court should refuse to hear the appeal of a defendant with substantial claims of innocence defies American traditions of fair play,” said Alan Dershowitz, Tyson’s lawyer.

Tyson is serving his sentence in the Indiana Youth Center, a state prison 15 miles west of Indianapolis, for the 1991 rape of Desiree Washington, a contestant in the Miss Black America pageant.

Soccer

Norway closed in on its first World Cup berth in 55 years with a 1-0 victory over Poland at Oslo.

Norway increased its lead to three points in Europe’s Group Two and needs only one victory or two draws in its remaining two games to advance to the World Cup for the second time. Norway’s last appearance in the World Cup was in 1938.

The top two teams from each of Europe’s six groups qualify for the 1994 World Cup. One-third of the 24-nation field is set: United States (host), Germany (defending champion), Mexico, Greece, Russia, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil.

Elsewhere, the Netherlands, needing to win by five goals to move into second place in Group Two, defeated San Marino, 7-0, at Bologna, Italy.

Italy moved into second place in Group One with a 3-0 victory over Estonia at Tallinn, Estonia, and Spain stayed in contention in Group Three with a 5-1 victory over Albania at Tirana, Albania.

College Sports

The University of Houston faculty, upset at pay raises granted its basketball and football coaches, has voted, 25-15, to dismantle the school’s intercollegiate athletic program because it is too costly. Although the 55-member Faculty Senate’s vote isn’t binding, the group says its measure reflects a growing trend among higher education institutions to reconsider the purpose of college sports.

Miscellany

Twenty years after defeating Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” Billie Jean King did it again at the Forum, but not without some help. King teamed with Elton John to defeat the 75-year-old Riggs and Martina Navratilova, 3-2, in a celebrity doubles match as part of a tennis program to benefit John’s AIDS foundation. . . . Del Harris, former coach of the Houston Rockets and Milwaukee Bucks, was hired as a special consultant to the Sacramento Kings.

The late Arthur Ashe became the first inductee into the U.S. Professional Tennis Assn. Hall of Fame. . . . The LPGA Match Play Championship has been canceled because the chief sponsor pulled out of the event. The tournament was scheduled for Dec. 9-12 at the Waikoloa Beach Golf Course on Hawaii Island, but was canceled after Pizza-La, last year’s title sponsor, withdrew its backing. . . . The Cuban women’s volleyball team, gold medalist at the 1992 Olympics, forfeited to Canada at a regional qualifying tournament in Colorado Springs, Colo., for next year’s world championships because the U.S. government has held up visas for the players and coaches.