Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 23, 1992 TAG: 9202230167
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium
MINISTER: TYSON VICTIM LIED ON TV
An Indianapolis minister who sided with boxer Mike Tyson in his battle against rape charges said victim Desiree Washington lied when she told her story on national television.The Rev. Leroy Dinkins of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and seven other local ministers have publicly questioned Washington's veracity in accusing Tyson of the assault last July during Indiana Black Expo in Indianapolis.
Tyson is awaiting sentencing on his Feb. 10 convictions for rape and two counts of criminal deviate conduct.
Washington, a contestant during the Miss Black America pageant held during the expo, was interviewed Friday night on ABC's "20-20."
"I feel as though she was lying," Dinkins said. "Maybe not about the act that took place, but the part she had in it. She was too rehearsed. This girl is being protected all the way. She is being shielded. This lady got herself into a situation, and she is using this tactic to get out of it."
Dinkins said he doesn't believe Washington's story that she was naive to accompany Tyson to his room at the Canterbury Hotel, where the incident occurred.
"There is no doubt that she will prosper monetarily," Dinkins said. "Why has she said she is not after any money but has said she hasn't decided on whether to file a civil suit if she isn't looking for money?"
Washington, 19, of Coventry, R.I., said she hoped appearing on "20-20" would sway her critics.
"If they still feel negatively toward me after this interview, then there is nothing I can do," she told interviewer Barbara Walters.
Washington expressed dismay and sadness at support for Tyson among some black churches in Indianapolis and around the country. "No matter what I say to them, they aren't going to believe me anyway," she said.
Tyson is to be sentenced March 27. ABC reported Friday that Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, whose celebrity clients have included socialite Claus Von Bulow and evangelist Jim Bakker, would represent Tyson in his appeal.
The Indianapolis Star reported Saturday than the FBI continues to investigate the $1 million bribe Washington told Walters she was offered if she would drop charges against Tyson.
"We are aware of the allegations," Bill McMullin, a spokesman from the FBI office in Boston, told the Star. "We are looking into them to see if there has been a violation of any federal law."
New York Newsday, citing a source close to an FBI investigation into Miss Washington's allegation, has reported that the Rev. Virgil A. Wood was the person who made the offer.
Wood, pastor of Pond Street Baptist Church in Providence, R.I., has denied the report.
In Rhode Island, U.S. Attorney Lincoln Almond said the alleged $1 million offer may not have violated state law.
A state law adopted in 1989 says "nothing herein shall be construed to make an agreement between the victim and the defendant to dismiss a criminal charge unlawful."
Almond said that means even a $1 million offer to drop charges might not be construed as a bribe.