Cristiano Ronaldo rape lawsuit dismissed by US judge

In what might come as a great relief for Portuguese sensation Cristiano Ronaldo, the rape lawsuit filed against him in the United States of America (USA) against Kathryn Mayorga has been dismissed by a US judge. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey rubbished the case where Mayorga alleged that the now Manchester United striker had sexually assaulted him in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009. The Portuguese has constantly denied the allegations against him and has maintained that his relationship with her was purely consensual. On Friday, a 42-page ruling was released, where the judge accused Mayorga's attorneys of "abuses and flagrant circumvention of the proper litigation process", besides declaring that "Mayorga loses her opportunity to pursue this case."

Mayorga's attorneys had moved to the court last month to dismiss the case. However, Dorsey affirmed that the constant use of illicitly obtained confidential documents compelled the lawsuit to be dismissed "with prejudice" and cannot be revived. "Nothing less than a with-prejudice dismissal will purge the taint that has permeated this case from its very inception and preserve the integrity of the litigation process," she recorded.

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A criminal case against Ronaldo was dropped in 2019, as a district attorney communicated that it "cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt" if any sexual assault had happened. In the meantime, Mayorga claimed civil action, seeking millions in damages. Although she confessed that she agreed to a financial settlement of $375,000 with the Portuguese in 2018 after filing the case against him, the emotional trauma barred her from partaking in the mediation process.

Meanwhile, Dorsey found that Mayorga's lawyer Leslie Stovall used "cyber-hacked attorney-client privileged documents" repeatedly. It included "internal emails between Ronaldo's lawyers discussing settlement strategies and potential liability" and "emblazoned with notices that their contents contain attorney-client communications".

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Dorsey further ruled that Stovall's use of the documents came in poor faith. She further articulated that "simply disqualifying Stovall will not cure the prejudice to Ronaldo, because the misappropriated documents and their confidential contents have been woven into the very fabric of Mayorga's claims." In 2019, Ronaldo admitted that he had a challenging year following the allegations against him.