Ronaldo legal team seeking payment from rape accuser’s lawyer – media
Lawyers representing Cristiano Ronaldo have petitioned a US judge to order a woman's legal representative to pay the footballer $626,000 related to a failed civil case against him several years ago, per a report by the Associated Press.
It was claimed in a lawsuit that the Portuguese superstar had sexually assaulted Kathryn Mayorga in Las Vegas, however Ronaldo's team have requested that Mayorga's attorney Leslie Mark Stovall pay the costs of what they say was 1,200 hours of work for the legal defense of the civil suit.
US District Court Judge Jennifer Dorsey dismissed Mayorga's civil suit earlier this month in which she was seeking damages of $25 million, accusing Stovall of what she called “bad faith conduct” after determining that Stovall had used stolen or leaked legal documents to further the case.
The ruling added that Stovall had “crossed the border of ethical behavior” in the pursuit of a judgement in their favor and prohibited Mayorga from refiling the charges at a later date.
“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,” Dorsey said in her ruling.
“Harsh sanctions are merited.”
It added that Ronaldo had been harmed by Stovall's actions in the case.
The sum in question is significantly larger than the $375,000 payment Ronaldo had previously made to Mayorga. She also signed a confidentiality agreement and agreed to drop a criminal complaint related to allegations that she had been sexually assaulted by the football in a Las Vegas hotel after meeting the footballer at nightclub.
Ronaldo's team agreed that the pair had sexual intercourse but maintain that it was consensual.
However, Mayorga's team had argued that the confidentiality agreement had been voided after the allegations appeared in German newspaper Der Spiegel in 2017.
They had initially used a pseudonym referring to Mayorga, but she agreed to an interview with the publication in 2018 under her real name.
Stovall argued that Mayorga did not break the non-disclosure agreement, and accused Ronaldo and his legal team of engaging in a campaign of defamation and coercion.
Details of the case remain scant but documents relating to the allegations could be released to the public if a public records request made by the New York Times is successful.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has asked a judge to determine is they are required to comply with the request.
