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Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly demanding $626,000 from the lawyer of a woman who accused him of rape in Las Vegas.
Plaintiff Kathryn Mayorga lost her case in which she alleged in 2018 that Ronaldo, 37, had raped her in Las Vegas almost a decade ago.
ESPN has reported that the case was kicked out of court on June 10 by US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey due to Stovall's misconduct during the case. Stovall allegedly used leaked and stolen documents. Dorsey found that Stovall:
"Crossed the border of ethical behavior before he filed this action, and his disregard for the rules of this court has continued unabated."
Stovall reportedly did not respond to telephone or emails, while text messages sent to her associate Larissa Drohobyczer were not answered too.
Ronaldo's attorney Peter Christensen reportedly sent a bluntly worded letter to Dorsey. The letter demanded that Dorsey make the plaintiff's attorney, Leslie Mark Stovall, liable for the payment.
Mayorga's case was thrown out with no option to file again and with a severe sanction, stating that Ronaldo has been harmed by Stovall's conduct. Mayorga had given consent through Dorsey and Drohobyczer to have her name made public.
The fees and court expenses paid by Ronaldo for his attorneys dwarfs the $375,000 hush-money Mayorga was paid in 2010 to drop the criminal complaint of sexual assasult. The statement from Christensen reads:
"Given Stovall's abuses and flagrant misconduct, Stovall should be made personally responsible for ensuring Ronaldo is reimbursed for having to defend against his vexatious and bad faith conduct,"
Christensen tabled attorney fees at between $350 and $850 per hour for around 1,200 hours of work. Mayorga's civil lawsuit sought more than $25 million in damages, including attorney fees for Stovall.
German news outlet Der Spiegal published an article in 2017 titled 'Cristiano Ronaldo's Secret'. The article was based on documents obtained from court-termed 'whistleblower portal Football Leaks'.
The lawsuit alleges that Ronaldo or his associates violated a confidentiality agreement made before the article was published. Meanwhile, the player's attorneys have accused Stovall of 'obtaining stolen material containing privileged attorney-client communication' and 'trying to make them pubic by attaching them to court filings'.
How did Cristiano Ronaldo's court case come about?
Kathryn Mayorga is a Las Vegas resident who has worked both as a model and as a teacher.
She allegedly met Cristiano Ronaldo at a nightclub in June 2009 and went with the Portuguese star and others to a hotel suite. Mayorga alleges that Ronaldo assaulted her in the bedroom that night.
Cristiano Ronaldo would have been 24 at the time and Mayorga 25.
The Manchester United star's attorneys have not disputed that the pair had sexual intercourse, but says that it was consensual.
Las Vegas police reopened their rape investigation after Mayorga's lawsuit was filed in 2018. However, a year later, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson decided not to pursue criminal charges as "too much time had passed to prove the case to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt".
