Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to three counts of assault stemming from an early morning brawl at a Brooklyn hotel earlier this year.
In a brief appearance in Brooklyn Criminal Court, Tyson entered the plea of not guilty to three misdemeanor assault charges and charges of harassment and disorderly conduct.
Tyson is charged with assaulting two men, Samuel Velez, 31, and Nestor Alvarez, 24, and a woman in the early hours of June 21 outside the Marriott Hotel in downtown Brooklyn. Tyson could face up to a year in jail if convicted.
"Mike Tyson was justified in his conduct," Tyson's attorney Mel Sachs told reporters. "He was told by two men who had been out drinking all night, 'You got fists and we got guns.'"
Sachs told Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Wayne Saitta the case should be dismissed because Tyson acted in self defense.
Both Velez and Alvarez have been indicted on menacing and harassment charges from the same incident.
"Professional athletes like Mike Tyson are targets of opportunity for a payday or to show off for others, and that's what happened in this case," Sachs said.
But prosecutors said his actions went beyond self defense.
"We have made it clear that he is charged with the assault of three people who may have provoked him, but he has gone well beyond that," said Assistant District Attorney John O'Mara.
Tyson is expected back in court in December.
Tyson has had several highly publicized run-ins with the law. He bit the ear of opponent Evander Holyfield in a 1997 boxing match and he was also imprisoned for three years for raping a former beauty queen in 1991.
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