Rape case against soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo dismissed due to 'misconduct' by plaintiff's attorney

By Andy Rose, CNN

Updated 2234 GMT (0634 HKT) June 11, 2022

Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United is pictured on December 11, 2021, in Norwich, England.

(CNN)The federal civil case alleging that Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo raped a woman in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009 was dismissed on Friday.

Judge Jennifer Dorsey accepted the recommendation of a federal magistrate, saying that an attorney for accuser Kathryn Mayorga engaged in misconduct so severe that it would be impossible for Ronaldo to have a fair trial.«Because of her attorney's abuses and flagrant circumvention of the proper litigation process, Mayorga loses her opportunity to pursue this case and attempt to unwind the settlement of claims that, themselves, implicate serious allegations of a highly personal nature,» Dorsey wrote. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning Mayorga cannot refile the complaint.Mayorga said she was coerced into signing a nondisclosure agreement and $375,000 settlement following the alleged rape, which Ronaldo has maintained was a consensual sexual encounter. Mayorga had asked the judge to void that agreement.Cristiano Ronaldo admits paying $375,000 in 2010 to settle sexual assault claimRead MoreThe existence of the settlement was first reported by the German newspaper Der Spiegel in 2017 using leaked confidential communications from Ronaldo's attorneys. The court found that one of Mayorga's attorneys, Leslie Stovall, reached out to the source of that leak to request those documents, including «the reporting and communications of the attorneys and investigators representing and defending Ronaldo following the sexual assault thru the negotiations and conclusion of the settlement and non-disclosure