A district judge in Las Vegas, Nevada, dismissed a rape lawsuit against Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo and criticized the legal team behind the accusation.
In 2009, Kathryn Mayorga of Nevada claims she was attacked by the Portuguese soccer player in a Las Vegas hotel room. Judge Jennifer Dorsey dismissed her complaint.
In a 42-page judgement issued on Friday, the judge accused Mayorga’s counsel of “abuses and gross circumvention of the normal litigation process” and stated that “Mayorga loses her ability to continue this action”
Last month, her attorneys voluntarily moved to drop the case, according to US media, but Dorsey concluded that their continuous use of illegally obtained confidential data meant that the case had to be dismissed “with prejudice” – meaning that it cannot be revived.
“Nothing short of a dismissal with prejudice will cleanse the taint that has infected this case since its inception and protect the integrity of the litigation process,” Dorsey wrote.
In September of last year, Mayorga alleged that Ronaldo sexually attacked her. Ronaldo vehemently disputed the allegations.
Mayorga stated that although she had agreed to a $375,000 financial settlement with Ronaldo immediately after the alleged incident, her emotional anguish prevented her from participating in the mediation process.
Dorsey discovered that Mayorga’s attorney Leslie Stovall made frequent use of “cyber-hacked attorney-client private materials” in an attempt to resurrect the case.
This use of the documents was in “poor faith,” the judge decided, and dismissing Stovall would not remedy Ronaldo’s damage because the plundered documents and their secret information were woven into Mayorga’s arguments.
Ronaldo is a five-time recipient of the Ballon d’Or, which is given to the world’s greatest player. He is one of the biggest players in international football.