By Blessing Udeobasi
A US court has dismissed rape suit against popular Manchester United and Portugal international football player, Cristiano Ronaldo.
A Nevada woman had asked the court to force Ronaldo to pay millions of dollars more than the $375,000 in hush money she received after claiming he raped her in Las Vegas in 2009.
US. District Judge, Jennifer Dorsey who presided over the case in Las Vegas on Friday dismissed the case to punish the woman’s attorney, Leslie Mark Stovall, for “bad-faith conduct” and the use of “purloined” confidential documents that the judge said tainted the case beyond redemption.
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Dorsey in her 42-page order pointed out that dismissing a case outright with no option to file it again is a severe sanction, but added that Ronaldo had been harmed by Stovall’s conduct.
“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.”
