U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey dismissed a rape lawsuit against Cristiano Ronaldo by a woman from Nevada.
The woman had filed a case in 2018 against the star player Ronaldo claiming that he raped her in Las Vegas in the year 2009 and paid USD 375,000 as hush money.
The lawsuit stated that the woman who was 25 at that time met Ronaldo at a nightclub and went with the player and other people to his hotel suite, where she alleged he assaulted her.
The case also included accusations of breaking a 2010 confidentiality clause in their financial settlement over the alleged assault.
The Portuguese footballer had denied all accusations.
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What happened during the proceedings?
The judge kicked the case out of court to punish the woman's attorney, Leslie Mark Stovall, for "bad-faith conduct" and the use of leaked and stolen documents detailing attorney-client discussions between Ronaldo and his lawyers. Dorsey said that tainted the case beyond redemption.
"I find that the procurement and continued use of these documents was bad faith, and 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 (plaintiff Kathryn) Mayorga's claims," the ruling said.
"Harsh sanctions are merited."
Dorsey had signaled earlier this year that she was ready to end the case after Stovall failed to meet a procedural deadline in his bid for more than USD 25 million in damages based on allegations that Ronaldo or his associates violated a 2010 confidentiality agreement by letting reports about it appear in European publications in 2017.
(Inputs from PTI)
