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Cristiano Ronaldo will not stand trial for allegations that he raped a woman in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey of Las Vegas dismissed a rape lawsuit Friday against the Portuguese soccer star, 37, due to the actions of his accuser Kathryn Mayorga’s attorney Leslie Mark Stovall. According to the judge, the plaintiff used stolen and leaked documents detailing Ronaldo’s attorney-client discussions to prosecute the case.
“Stovall’s repeated use of stolen, privileged documents to prosecute this case has every indicia of bad-faith conduct,” Dorsey said in the 42-page ruling obtained by People.
“And because the record shows that he and Mayorga have extensively reviewed these documents and used them to fashion the very basis of Mayorga’s claims,” the judge continued. “Simply disqualifying Stovall will not purge the prejudice from their misuse.”
The documents used were leaked by the website Football Leaks and published in the German newspaper Der Speigel in 2017. When Stovall included them in his findings, the court “found that defendant Cristiano Ronaldo had not waived privilege and struck them.”
However, Mayorga’s attorney “remained undeterred,” the judge said. When Ronaldo’s camp learned that he planned to use the documents in depositions and believed he had more than what he previously disclosed, they filed a motion to have the case terminated.
In addition to revealing Mayorga’s sexual assault allegations against Ronaldo, the documents also showed that she accepted a $375,000 civil settlement in exchange for not filing criminal charges.
Ronaldo’s reps denied the claims, calling the article “a piece of journalistic fiction” in a statement to Der Speigel at the time.
Ronaldo’s attorney Peter S. Christiansen told People that they are “pleased with the federal court’s careful consideration of the issues and decision to dismiss this case.”
“Since the Plaintiff first filed suit in 2018, we have maintained the action was brought in bad faith,” Christiansen added. “The outright dismissal of Plaintiff’s case should give all who follow this matter renewed confidence in the judicial process in this country while dissuading those who seek to undermine it.
An attorney for Mayorga has not responded to requests for comment, according to the outlet.
Originally filed in Nevada’s Clark County District Court, the sexual assault lawsuit sought to void the original settlement and secure an additional $200,000 in damages. The lawsuit argued that Mayorga was coerced into signing a nondisclosure agreement.
Last year, a magistrate judge suggested dismissing the case due to Stovall’s conduct, the BBC reported. In 2019, U.S. prosecutors also said that the Manchester United player would not face charges over the allegations because they could not “be proven beyond reasonable doubt.”
Mayorga reported an assault in 2009, according to the Clark County District Attorney’s office in Las Vegas. However, she refused to state where it happened or who assaulted her so police were unable “to conduct any meaningful investigation.”
The allegations were investigated again in 2018 at her request. Her lawyer said she was inspired to re-open the case due to the #MeToo movement.
Mayorga alleged that on June 13, 2009, she went to a nightclub called Rain in the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. Ronaldo allegedly invited her back to his penthouse suite in the hotel, along with a group of people. But she claimed that the athlete allegedly barged into the bathroom on her, where he “exposed his erect penis and asked the plaintiff to perform fellatio.”
She declined and tried to leave, but he allegedly pulled her “onto a bed and attempted to engage in sexual intercourse.”
Ronaldo has not denied meeting Mayorga in Las Vegas in 2009 but said that what happened between them was consensual, according to the BBC.
Mayorga could file an appeal with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Photo: AFP / PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA
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