Beyond the bars
Lawyer says Tyson should return to the ring
Posted: Saturday March 06, 1999 01:22 PM
| |
Indiana authorities could have forced Tyson to serve up to four years in prison, but they wanted to resolve the issue at no further cost to taxpayers. AP |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson can look forward to restarting his boxing career now that his legal problems are resolved.
"I see no reason why he doesn't resume training and fighting" once he is released from a Maryland jail, James Voyles, Tyson's Indianapolis lawyer, said Friday.
Tyson must serve an extra 60 days in a Maryland jail for violating his Indiana probation for a 1992 rape conviction, under an agreement filed Friday in Marion County (Ind.) Superior Court.
But when Tyson will actually be released from jail and resume his career is unclear.
Tyson's 60-day sentence for violating probation won't affect his Nevada boxing license, said Kirk Hendrick, legal counsel for the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
But Hendrick said just having the license doesn't guarantee Tyson's right to fight. He said a promoter has to put together a card that would include Tyson, and that card would have to be approved by the commission.
"There are probably some tough questions Mike and his people would have to answer" if promoters sought commission approval for such a card, Hendrick said Friday.
Tyson's 60-day sentence will begin at the end of the one year he is serving in Montgomery County, Md., for a misdemeanor assault. The Maryland sentence still could be reduced for good behavior.
Indiana authorities could have forced Tyson to serve up to four years in prison, but they wanted to resolve the issue at no further cost to taxpayers while still holding Tyson accountable, Marion County prosecutor Scott Newman said Friday.
"We were frankly not anxious -- and I don't think the people of Indiana were anxious -- to have Mike Tyson back in our courts and in our jails," Newman said.
Tyson will pay Indiana $80 per day, or a total of $4,800, for the cost of his incarceration, and Indiana will reimburse Maryland authorities.
Under the agreement, Tyson admitted he violated his probation. He also waived his right to appeal his no-contest plea to charges he assaulted two men after a minor traffic accident in August.
After serving the additional 60 days, his record will show that his Indiana probation was terminated as "unsatisfactory," the agreement said. That would be taken into consideration if Tyson gets into legal trouble again.
Tyson's probation was scheduled to end March 24. If he had been forced to appear in court in Indiana on a probation violation, he probably would have withdrawn his Maryland plea and appealed his sentence, Newman said.
"There would have been protracted litigation in this matter, probably in two states," Newman said.
The agreement was signed Thursday by Newman, Tyson and Voyles and was accepted Friday by Judge Patricia Gifford, who had sentenced Tyson for his 1992 conviction.
Tyson began serving his Maryland sentence Feb. 5. He had until Sunday to appeal.
Evander Holyfield, who has twice beaten Tyson in the ring, was unmoved when told that Tyson will serve an extra 60 days for violating parole. Tyson was disqualified for biting Holyfield's ears in their last fight, in 1997.
"Mike has to handle his business and I think I'll be most effective if I handle my own," Holyfield said in Burbank, Calif., where he is preparing for his March 13 title bout against Lennox Lewis.
Muhammad Siddeeq, a spiritual adviser to Tyson, said those close to the boxer are "extremely grateful" a deal could be worked out.
"I'm sure that Mike would want me to say on his behalf ... that he's going to try to be worthy of the consideration that's been given him," Siddeeq said.
Tyson was on probation in Indiana for raping a beauty pageant contestant in an Indianapolis hotel room in 1991. He was released from prison in March 1995 after serving three years of a six-year sentence.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
