02-22-2002, 06:44 AM
Quote:Prosecutors: Unclear whether sex was forced
LAS VEGAS -- Mike Tyson will not be charged with sexual assault in two cases in Las Vegas, prosecutors said Thursday.
It was simply unclear whether the sexual interaction between each of the two alleged victims and Mr. Tyson was consensual or forced," Clark County prosecutors wrote in a letter sent Thursday to the Las Vegas police.
Prosecutors said there was no question sexual relations occurred between Tyson and the two women, but said there was "no possibility whatsoever" to successfully prosecute Tyson.
"His position, of course, is it's consensual. Their position is, of course, it's not," Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell told The Associated Press. "It's just not clear. It could have been either. I don't suppose we'll ever really know the truth."
Ten prosecutors reviewed the evidence gathered since police began investigating Tyson in September. They said the police investigation was so thorough that there was nothing more police could have done, or do in the future, that would warrant charges.
"We are grateful that the Clark Country District Attorney's Office conducted an independent review of both cases and did not rely solely on information gathered by the police department," Tyson's lawyer, Darrow K. Soll of Phoenix, said in a statement.
"Our parallel investigation reveals what we believe to be substantial evidence of Mr. Tyson's innocence."
Tyson himself won't comment, spokesman Scott Miranda said.
Police sought arrest warrants from prosecutors for Tyson on multiple counts of sexual assault in each case.
"I'm not going to talk about whether I'm surprised or disappointed or whatever," said police Lt. Jeff Carlson, who heads the sexual assault unit. "It's our job to investigate the facts. I'm proud of the investigation that the detectives did."
In the first case, police began investigating Tyson in mid-September, after a Las Vegas woman went to a hospital with injuries that she said were suffered when the boxer raped her at his home.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon has said the woman had been in a six-month romantic relationship with Tyson.
Police searched Tyson's $1.3 million home for more than six hours on Sept. 26 and confiscated several boxes of material, including videotapes, sheets and towels.
The second woman went to police Dec. 28 and reported that she also had been attacked at Tyson's home in November 2000. The woman initially went to police near her out-of-state home and reported that she had been raped, Las Vegas police said.
The police department the woman first contacted never reported the case to Las Vegas police, who have not identified the first agency.
In 1992, Tyson was found guilty of rape in Indiana and served three years of a 10-year sentence.
He was cleared of a sexual battery allegation raised by a woman at a Chicago nightclub in 1996 and of an allegation that he raped a woman last year in Big Bear, Calif.
Prosecutors in Las Vegas said they reviewed both of those cases.
Last month, the Nevada Athletic Commission voted to refuse Tyson a license to challenge heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis on April 6 at the MGM Grand hotel-casino.
Tyson is now searching for a venue that will let him fight. The Washington D.C. Boxing and Wrestling Commission voted Tuesday to hold a March 12 hearing on the matter.
Another vote will be held after the hearing that could grant Tyson a license for a June 8 bout against Lewis at the MCI Center.
California, Texas, Michigan, Georgia, England, Denmark and the Netherlands are among the sites floated by Tyson's supporters as possible sites.
And this mess just continues. So, now it is being said that Tyson can re-apply in Neveda.