Tyson’s Attorney Says Ruling Impacts Appeal

A Rhode Island court’s ruling that boxer Mike Tyson’s accuser should have told a jury she had hired an attorney to handle her civil case “will have a very significant impact” on the appeal of Tyson’s rape conviction, his attorney said Thursday.

“It is the smoking gun of perjury in Desiree Washington’s testimony,” said Alan M. Dershowitz, the Harvard University law school professor who represents Tyson.

Dershowitz filed a copy of the Rhode Island decision Thursday with the Indiana Court of Appeals, which has pending before it Tyson’s appeal of his rape conviction, his six-year prison sentence and his standing request to be released on bail pending appeal.