Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyers move to get ‘rape’ case dismissed or settled
A civil suit continues although prosecutors have said there is not enough evidence for a criminal trial.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyers have filed court documents asking a US judge in Las Vegas to either dismiss a Nevada woman’s lawsuit alleging the football star raped her in 2009, or to order closed-door settlement talks.
Lawyers representing Ronaldo’s accuser, Kathryn Mayorga, did not immediately respond Tuesday to telephone, email and text messages seeking comment about the two recent court filings about her lawsuit stemming from a 2010 confidentiality agreement and 375,000 US dollars hush-money payment.
Ms Mayorga has given her consent to be named through her lawyers, Leslie Mark Stovall and Larissa Drohobyczer.
Ronaldo’s lawyer in Las Vegas, Peter Christiansen, declined to comment about the documents he filed on October 14.
“Mr Ronaldo has always maintained that this was a consensual encounter,” said the filing seeking dismissal of the case.
A companion document also filed on October 14 in US District court asks the judge to order out-of-court talks to settle the lawsuit.
Ms Mayorga alleges conspiracy, defamation, breach of contract, coercion and fraud.
Her lawyers want to void the 2010 deal and collect at least 200,000 US dollars more from Ronaldo.
They acknowledge Ms Mayorga received 375,000 US dollars in 2010.
The court has kept the original agreement sealed.
Ms Mayorga’s lawyers maintain she did not break the confidentiality pledge.
They accuse Ronaldo or his associates of allowing reports of it to appear in European publications in 2017.
The football star’s lawyers have said the information was among electronic data hacked, stolen and sold by cybercriminals, and that Ms Mayorga’s lawsuit is being used to damage Ronaldo’s reputation.
Ms Mayorga’s lawsuit said she met Ronaldo at a nightclub and went with him and other people to his suite at the Palms Hotel and Casino, where he assaulted her in a bedroom.
The local elected prosecutor said there was not enough evidence to take the 10-year-old case to trial.
Ronaldo, now 34, is one of the richest sports stars in the world.
He plays in Italy for Juventus and captains the Portugal national team.
Ms Mayorga, now 36, is a former schoolteacher and model who lives in the Las Vegas area.
Mr Stovall has alleged that Ms Mayorga, then 25, was so stressed by pressure from “fixers” trying to protect the reputation of Ronaldo, then 24, that she lacked the legal capacity to sign a non-disclosure agreement 10 years ago.
A federal judge in Las Vegas has not set a hearing date on Ronaldo’s bid to stop the court case.
