Iron Mike still in jail
Tyson lawyer: No timetable on appeal
Posted: Monday February 08, 1999 10:13 PM
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Damage control? An appeal could hurt Mike Tyson's career even more. AP |
WASHINGTON (CNN/SI) -- Only two things are certain in the legal meandering that has become Mike Tyson's life: There was no appeal filed Monday for his one-year sentence for assaulting two motorists, and the ex-heavyweight champion was still behind bars.
One of Tyson's lawyers, Robert Greenberg, told CNN/SI that there is no timetable for an appeal. Greenberg and attorney Paul Kemp discussed the risks of such an appeal on Monday while Tyson spent his third full day in protective custody at the Montgomery County, Maryland, jail.
Tyson was sentenced Friday for kicking
one man and striking another after a fender-bender in suburban
Gaithersburg, Maryland, in August. He pleaded no contest -- meaning he neither contested the
charges nor admitted guilt -- in December.
The former heavyweight champion remained in a private cell "for
his own protection" and cannot ask for a bond hearing unless an
appeal is filed, said prosecutor Douglas Gansler.
The sentence by District Court Judge Stephen Johnson could mean
the end of the career of the 32-year-old boxer, once on course to
become one of the greatest heavyweights.
Tyson's lawyers must decide within 30 days of the sentencing
whether his career would be further jeopardized by an appeal. A
Circuit Court judge could then decide not to accept the no-contest
plea and order a trial by jury.
If found guilty, Tyson would not only have another conviction on
his record but would again be subject to Maryland sentencing
guidelines that call for a jail term of three to seven years.
In addition, a conviction would worsen Tyson's standing in
Indiana and Nevada. Indiana authorities must decide whether Tyson
violated his probation for a 1992 rape conviction, and Nevada
boxing authorities could revoke Tyson's boxing license for the
second time in two years.
Gansler, who led the call for jail time for Tyson, said the
boxer could be fighting again in 1999 under his sentence if he
behaves.
"There's a strong argument to be made that he's better off not
appealing," Gansler said. "If he were treated like any ordinary
prisoner, like he has been, he would be in the jail about two to
three months."
After that, Tyson could be transferred to a pre-release center,
a sort of halfway house where he could leave during the day to go
to work and return at night.
"He would be in the system about nine months," Gansler said.
In Indiana, Judge Patricia Gifford, who presided over Tyson's
rape trial, is awaiting paperwork from Maryland before ruling on
whether he violated probation.
Judy Glaze, secretary for Gifford, said the papers are expected
in a few days, and until then no action can be taken.
"We don't have anything new right now," she said. "We're just
still waiting."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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