Cristiano Ronaldo's rape lawsuit dismissed by US judge

ok.co.uk:

A Nevada woman who accused footballer Cristiano Ronaldo of rape, has had her civil lawsuit dismissed by a LasVegas judge on Friday in part as a punishment for the alleged conduct of her lawyer.The woman, Kathryn Mayorga, had been trying to claim damages after she alleged the footballer raped her while in Las Vegas in 2009.

US District judge Jennifer Dorsey made the decision to throw the case out on Friday, after the woman’s lawyer Leslie Mark Stovall was found by her to have used “purloined” confidential documents, which had tainted the case beyond redemption.The Manchester United player has never disputed that he slept with the woman, but instead has always maintained that it was consensual sex and that a confidentiality agreement currently in place means the pair cannot talk about it publicly.

Get exclusive celebrity stories and fabulous photoshoots straight to your inbox with OK!'s daily newsletter . In a 42 page order, Judge Dorsey stated that dismissing a case outright with no option of bringing it back to court was a severe sanction, but she felt there was no other option as Cristiano’s reputation had been severely damaged by the conduct of the lawyer.

In her ruling, she wrote: “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. “Harsh sanctions are merited." Although the case has been thrown out, it is possible for lawyer Leslie Stovall to appeal the decision to the 9th U.S.