A rape lawsuit filed against Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been thrown out by a judge in Las Vegas.
Kathryn Mayorga was seeking millions of dollars in compensation on top of the $375,000 in hush money she was paid after alleging that Ronaldo raped her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.
But Judge Jennifer Dorsey threw the case out of court on Friday, accusing Mayorga's attorney Leslie Mark Stovall of "bad-faith conduct" and the use of "purloined" confidential documents which she claimed had "tainted" the case.
"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 Mayorga's claims," her ruling said.
And it added: "Harsh sanctions are merited."
Stovall had obtained documents related to the case from FootballLeaks creator Rui Pinto. In her 42-page report, the judge ruled that those were confidental and therefore inadmissable as evidence.
