Boxing bad boy Mike Tyson won’t be socked with rape charges.
The San Bernardino, Calif., district attorney’s office yesterday declined to file the charges against the ex-heavyweight champ, saying it couldn’t prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
“It’s precisely because of Mr. Tyson’s notorious reputation for violence and his prior rape conviction that we looked at this case so carefully,” said Deputy District Attorney David Whitney.
“I would love to prosecute Mr. Tyson, but we don’t have evidence to prosecute beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The fighter, who steadfastly maintained his innocence, declared, “There was never a doubt in my mind that the truth would serve to vindicate me.”
A 50-year-old acquaintance of Tyson accused him of raping her on July 16 in a home Tyson rented while training in Big Bear Lake, 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
But Whitney said four prosecutors unanimously agreed that “the case cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Darrow Soll, the boxer’s lawyer, said, “There is simply no credible evidence to suggest that Mr. Tyson engaged in any criminal wrongdoing.”
Gloria Allred, the woman’s lawyer, said she would comment Monday.
Tyson, 35, spent three years in jail after his 1992 conviction for raping Desiree Washington, an 18-year-old Miss Black America contestant.