An American judge has dismissed the Las Vegas rape allegations lawsuit against Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo after the accuser's attorney used leaked and stolen records in a bid to make his client's case.
As reported by BBC News, Kathryn Mayorga claims that the soccer star raped her at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009. Ronaldo denies her claims and has never been charged in connection with the alleged incident.
According to reports, she had reached an out-of-court settlement with the athlete in 2010 but has been seeking millions more than the $375,000 she initially received.
Mayorga said that though she had agreed to the settlement not long after the alleged assault took place, the emotional trauma she felt at the time did not allow her to take part in the mediation process, and she felt pressure to give in to the offer.
According to US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey, before he filed the complaint, Mayorga's lawyer, Leslie Stovall, received "ill-gotten" information and documents that were confidential and privileged,
The judge said the attorney had harmed the 37-year-old sports star by conducting himself in "bad faith" through constant use of stolen and privileged documents to go about the case.
In a 42-page ruling, which was released on Friday, Judge Dorsey accused Stovall of "abuses and flagrant circumvention of the proper litigation process" and said that as a result, "Mayorga loses her opportunity to pursue this case."
It was recommended by a magistrate judge last year that the case be dismissed due to Stovall's conduct.
In 2019, prosecutors in the States said Ronaldo would not face charges over the allegations as they could not "be proven beyond reasonable doubt".
The Clark County District Attorney's office in Las Vegas confirmed Mayorga reported an assault in 2009 but refused to specify where it allegedly happened or who the perpetrator was. As a result, authorities were unable "to conduct any meaningful investigation". The accusations underwent investigation again in 2018 at her request.
It came after a 2017 article published by German news outlet Der Spiegel reported that in 2010, Mayorga reached an out-of-court settlement with the soccer player for agreeing never to go public with her claims.
