TYSON VICTIM: $1 MILLION OFFER REJECTED

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 21, 1992                   TAG: 9202210136
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS                                LENGTH: Short
TYSON VICTIM: $1 MILLION OFFER REJECTED
The woman Mike Tyson was convicted of raping says she was offered $1 million to recant her allegations before the boxer's trial.
Desiree Washington, 19, of Coventry, R.I., made the statement on ABC News' "20-20" show. The interview will be broadcast tonight.
"I said, `No way.' I reported it to my lawyer, who took it to a higher authority, and it's being taken care of," she said.
Marion County Prosecutor Jeffrey Modisett confirmed Thursday that an East Coast FBI office had investigated Washington's allegations.
The television interview was the first Washington had granted since Tyson's conviction Feb. 10 on charges of rape and criminal deviate conduct.
She said she was not at liberty to say who made the offer, but said they told her what she should say in retracting the accusation.
Also on Thursday, the judge who presided over the rape trial ordered attorneys in the case to investigate reports that a juror claimed the trial had been fixed, a spokesman for the Marion County Attorney's office said.
Indianapolis Attorney Robert Prather told the Marion County Prosecutor's office Monday that he overheard the comment while working out at a gymnasium on Saturday.
The juror denied the allegations, according to another juror.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB