In a USA court a Nevada woman was unsuccessful in her attempt to compel worldwide soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo to pay millions of dollars more than the $375,000 in hush money she got after alleging he raped her in Las Vegas in 2009.
The case was thrown out of court on Friday by US District Court Justice Jennifer Dorsey in Las Vegas to punish the woman’s attorney, Leslie Mark Stovall, for ‘bad faith conduct’ and the use of ‘purloined’ confidential documents, which the judge said stained the case beyond redemption.
Dorsey noted in her 42-page judgement that dismissing a case outright with no ability to re-file it is a harsh punishment, but that Stovall’s actions had injured Ronaldo.
The plundered records and their secret contents have been knitted into the very fabric of (plaintiff Kathryn) Mayorga’s claims, and just disqualifying Stovall will not remedy the prejudice to Ronaldo,’ the judgement said. ‘Harsh penalties are warranted.’
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Stovall did not respond to phone and email messages left for him on Saturday. Larissa Drohobyczer, an associate, did not respond to text messages. They have the option of appealing the ruling to the 9th United States Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Ronaldo’s lawyer in Las Vegas, Peter Christiansen, was on the road and could not be reached for comment.
The Associated Press does not usually name persons who claim to have been sexual assault victims, but Mayorga granted her permission for her name to be made public through Stovall and Drohobyczer.