Dear Reader...
A rape allegation against Cristiano Ronaldo was dismissed by a US judge because the accuser's lawyer relied on leaked and stolen information.
Kathryn Mayorga, who had a brief relationship with the football star, claims he sexually assaulted her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.
Ronaldo has not denied that the two met in Las Vegas in 2009, but has stated that what occurred was consensual rather than rape. He has never been charged with anything.
Ronaldo settled with a lady in 2010 for $375,000 after she alleged he assaulted her in Las Vegas in 2009.
Mayorga claimed that while she consented to the settlement quickly after the alleged occurrence, she was unable to engage in the agreement process due to her mental anguish at the time, and she felt pushed to accept the offer. She then decided to pursue the matter further.
The complaint sought a larger settlement, potentially in the millions of dollars, but on Friday, June 10, US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey dismissed the case due to the way papers were obtained.
The court stated in her 42-page judgment that dismissing a lawsuit altogether with no possibility to re-file it is a serious consequence, but that Ms Mayorga's counsel, Leslie Mark Stovall, had injured Ronaldo.
Mr Stovall had used "misappropriated papers" that were "woven into the very fabric" of the plaintiff's argument, according to Judge Dorsey, which meant the case had to be permanently dismissed.
"I find that the procurement and continued use of these papers was bad faith," she stated in her judgement.
"Disqualifying Stovall will not remedy Ronaldo's prejudice because the plundered documents and their secret information are intertwined into the very fabric of [the plaintiff's] claims."
The judgment stated, "Harsh consequences are warranted."
"I firmly deny the accusations leveled against me," Ronaldo declared in a statement made in October 2018. Rape is a heinous act that runs counter to all I am and believe in."
His legal team claims that the sexual contact was voluntary, and that a confidentiality agreement forbids him and the woman from discussing it.
The woman's legal team has the option to appeal the judgement.