A Nevada woman has lost her bid in a U.S. court for forcing international football star Cristiano Ronaldo to pay millions of dollars more than the $ 375,000 in silent money he received after he allegedly raped her in Las Vegas in 2009.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey in Las Vegas on Friday dismissed the court case to punish women’s lawyer Leslie Mark Stovall for “misconduct” and the use of leaked and stolen documents detailing the discussions between the lawyer and the client between Ronaldo and his lawyers. Dorsey said this contaminated the case beyond redemption.
Archive photo by Cristiano Ronaldo David Ramos / Getty Images
Dorsey said in his 42-page order that dismissing a case without the possibility of re-filing it is a severe sanction, but said Ronaldo had been harmed by Stovall’s conduct.
“I believe that the acquisition and continued use of these documents were in bad faith, and simply disqualifying Stovall will not cure Ronaldo’s harm because the embezzled documents and their confidential content have been integrated into the very fabric of the statements by (plaintiff Kathryn) Mayorga. ” “They deserve harsh sanctions.”
Stovall did not immediately respond to phone and email messages Saturday. Text messages to associate Larissa Drohobyczer were not answered. They could appeal the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
In a statement referring to Mayorga only as a “plaintiff,” Ronaldo’s Las Vegas lawyer Peter Christiansen said Cristiano’s legal team welcomed the decision.
“We have maintained that the action was filed in bad faith,” the statement said. “The direct dismissal of the plaintiff’s case should give all those who follow this matter a renewed confidence in the judicial process of this country while at the same time deterring those who seek to undermine it.”
The Associated Press generally does not name people who claim to be victims of sexual assault, but Mayorga gave consent through Stovall and Drohobyczer to make his name public.
Dorsey had indicated earlier this year that she was ready to end the case after Stovall failed to meet a procedural deadline in its bid for more than $ 25 million in damages based on the allegations. that Ronaldo or his associates violated a 2010 confidentiality agreement by leaving reports on the matter. appear in European publications in 2017.
Mayorga’s civil lawsuit, filed in 2018 in the state court and moved in 2019 in federal court, alleged that Ronaldo or his associates violated the confidentiality agreement before the German media Der Spiegel published an article entitled “The Cristiano Ronaldo’s secret “based on documents obtained from the” Football Leaks whistleblower portal “.
Ronaldo’s legal team blamed the reports on the leaking of electronic data from pirated documents from law firms and other European entities and put them up for sale. Christiansen also alleged that the information was altered or fabricated.
Christiansen and lawyer Kendelee Works in Las Vegas have fought successfully since the case arose 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 said she met Ronaldo at a nightclub and went with him and other people to his hotel suite, where he allegedly assaulted her in a bedroom. He was 25 at the time. He was 24 years old.
Ronaldo’s legal team does not dispute that Ronaldo met Mayorga and they had sex in June 2009, but maintained that it was consensual and not a rape.
Mayorga went to Las Vegas police at the time, but the investigation was suspended because Mayorga did not identify his alleged assailant by name or say where the incident took place, police and prosecutors said.
Ronaldo, now 37, is one of the highest paid and most recognizable sports stars in the world. He plays for Manchester United in the English Premier League and has led the national team of his home country, Portugal. He spent several years playing in Italy with the Turin 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 file criminal charges.
Wolfson, the elected attorney for Las Vegas, said too much time had passed and the evidence did not prove Mayorga’s accusation could be proved before a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
Stovall argued that Mayorga did not break the deal with the money. His lawsuit sought to overturn him, accusing Ronaldo and the “fixers” of protecting his reputation from conspiracy, defamation, breach of contract, coercion and fraud. In documents filed last year, Stovall estimated the damages at $ 25 million plus attorney’s fees.
The lawyer argued that Mayorga had a learning disability when she was little and was so pressured by Ronaldo’s lawyers and representatives that she was unable to consent to withdraw her criminal complaint and accept the $ 375,000 in August 2010.
Dorsey followed the recommendations of U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts, who handled preliminary and procedural rulings in the case of Stovall’s dismissal of bad faith, “misconduct” and reliance on leaked and stolen confidential documents. .
“There is no possible way for this case to continue when the court cannot say what arguments and testimonies are based on these privileged documents,” Albregts said in an October 2021 report to Dorsey.
Stovall “acted in bad faith by soliciting, receiving and using Football Leaks documents to prosecute Mayorga’s case,” Albregts wrote. He blamed Stovall for “bold”, “impertinent” and “abusive” attempts to make the confidentiality agreement public through legal maneuvers and court proceedings, and recommended that Dorsey reject Stovall’s claim that Mayorga did not have the capacity. to sign the 2010 agreement.
The 9th Circuit decided earlier this year that it would be Dorsey’s responsibility to decide this issue.
It was not immediately clear from Dorsey’s ruling whether the public could still take a look at the Las Vegas police report compiled on Ronaldo after Mayorga filed his lawsuit in 2018.
Albregts said in March that denying access to the New York Times to what police had collected “would almost certainly increase the ‘spectrum of government censorship’.” He recommended that Dorsey take the newspaper’s request for open documents to a state court.
A protection order imposed by Dorsey to prevent the release of the 2010 agreement does not apply to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Albregts found, and “does not prohibit LVMPD from disclosing its criminal investigation file. “.
Lawyer Margaret McLetchie, who represents the newspaper, did not immediately respond to a message about the case on Saturday.
In the US, help is available for survivors of sexual violence and their families. RAINN offers resources at 1-800-656-HOPE and on its website, www.rainn.org