A Nevada woman has lost her lawsuit in a US court to force international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo to pay millions of dollars more than $375,000 in hidden money she received after claiming he raped her. She was in Las Vegas in 2009.
US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey in Las Vegas dropped the case out of court on Friday to punish the woman’s attorney, Leslie Mark Stovall, for “a lack of faith” and use of documents leaked and stolen details of attorney-client discussions between Ronaldo and him. lawyer. Dorsey says the case has irrevocably defiled.
Dorsey said in her 42-page order that the complete dismissal of a case with no option to resubmit it was a severe punishment, but said Ronaldo was harmed by Stovall’s conduct. .
“I find that the procurement and continued use of these materials is not in good faith, and that simply disqualifying Stovall will not cure prejudice against Ronaldo because of the misappropriated materials and content. Their confidential content was woven into the claims of Mayorga (plaintiff Kathryn), “the ruling said. “The harsh sanctions are deserved.”
Stovall did not immediately respond Saturday to phone and email messages. Text messages to link Larissa Drohobyczer went unanswered. They can appeal the decision to the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Ronaldo’s lawyer in Las Vegas, Peter Christiansen, was on a business trip and could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Associated Press usually doesn’t name people who say they are victims of sexual assault, but Mayorga agreed through Stovall and Drohobyczer to make her name public.
Dorsey signaled earlier this year that she was ready to close the case after Stovall failed to meet a procedural deadline in his bid for more than $25 million in damages based on allegations that Ronaldo or his associates violated a 2010 confidentiality agreement by reporting it. appeared in European publications in 2017.
Mayorga’s civil lawsuit – filed in 2018 in state court and moved to federal court in 2019 – alleges that Ronaldo or his associates violated a confidentiality agreement before German news agency Der Spiegel published an article titled “Secrets of Cristiano Ronaldo” based on documents obtained from “Football Leaks Whistleblower Portal.”
Ronaldo’s legal team has blamed reports of electronic data leaks of hacked documents from law firms and other organizations in Europe and for sale. Christianen also alleges that the information was altered or fabricated.
Christianen and Las Vegas-based attorney Kendelee Works have been successfully fighting since the case emerged in 2018 to prevent the pact from being revealed.
Mayorga is a former model and teacher who lives in the Las Vegas area. Her lawsuit says she met Ronaldo at a nightclub and accompanied him and others to his hotel room, where she alleges he assaulted her in her bedroom. She was 25 years old then. He is 24 years old.
Ronaldo’s legal team does not dispute the fact that Ronaldo met Mayorga and they had sex in June 2009, but argued that it was consensual, not rape.
Mayorga went to Las Vegas police at the time, but the investigation was dropped because Mayorga did not identify her alleged attacker or say where the incident took place, police and other agents. prosecutor said.
Ronaldo, now 37 years old, is one of the highest paid sports stars in the world. He plays for English Premier League club Manchester United and is the captain of the national team of his hometown, Portugal. He has spent the last few years playing in Italy for Turin-based club Juventus.
Las Vegas police reopened their rape investigation after Mayorga’s lawsuit was filed, but Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson decided in 2019 not to pursue criminal charges.
Wolfson, the Las Vegas-elected prosecutor, said time had passed and the evidence did not suggest that Mayorga’s allegations could be proven before a grand jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
Stovall insists that Mayorga did not break the concealed money agreement. Her lawsuit sought to nullify it, accusing Ronaldo and his “reputation fixers” of conspiracy, defamation, breach of contract, coercion and fraud. In documents filed last year, Stovall listed damages as $25 million plus attorneys’ fees.
Attorneys argued that Mayorga had a learning disability as a child and was so pressured by Ronaldo’s lawyers and representatives that she was unable to agree to drop her criminal complaint and accept the number. $375,000 in August 2010.
Dorsey followed a recommendation from U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Albregts, who handled the preliminary and procedural rulings in the case, that it be dismissed for the crime, “inappropriate conduct” of Stovall, and rely on leaked and stolen confidential documents.
“There is no possible way for this case to proceed when the court cannot tell what arguments and testimony are based on these privileged documents,” Albregts said in an October 2021 report to Dorsey. “.
Stovall “acted in bad faith by requesting, receiving and using Football Leaks documents to prosecute Mayorga’s case,” Albregts wrote. He blamed Stovall for “bold”, “ingenious” and “abusive” attempts to make the confidentiality agreement public through legal manipulations and court records, and recommended to Dorsey that she refuted Stovall’s claim that Mayorga was unfit to sign the 2010 deal.
9th Circuit ruled earlier this year that it would be up to Dorsey to decide that question.
It was not immediately clear in Dorsey’s ruling whether the public could still see the compiled Las Vegas police report on Ronaldo after Mayorga filed the lawsuit in 2018.
Albregts said in March that denying the New York Times access to what police collect “will almost certainly raise the ‘specter of government censorship.'” He recommended that Dorsey move in. State courts require the newspaper’s open record documents.
Albregts found that a protective order Dorsey imposed to prevent the release of the 2010 agreement did not apply to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and “did not prohibit the LVMPD from disclosing its criminal investigation records. “
Attorney Margaret McLetchie, representing the newspaper, did not immediately respond Saturday to a text message about that case.
