Current:Home > NewsUS appeals court to hear arguments over 2010 hush-money settlement of Ronaldo rape case in Vegas -Elevate Capital Network
US appeals court to hear arguments over 2010 hush-money settlement of Ronaldo rape case in Vegas
Rekubit View
Date:2025-04-07 13:56:37
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A U.S. appeals court planned to hear Wednesday from lawyers trying to revive a woman’s bid to force international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo to pay millions more than the $375,000 in hush money he paid her after she claimed he raped her in Las Vegas in 2009.
An attorney for the woman is asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the dismissal of the case in June 2022 and reopen the civil lawsuit she first filed in Nevada in 2018.
The appeal argues the federal court judge in Nevada erred in repeatedly rejecting the woman’s attempts to unseal and include as evidence the confidentiality agreement she signed in 2010 in accepting payments from Ronaldo.
A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based appellate court isn’t expected to issue an immediate ruling after it’s scheduled to question attorneys for Ronaldo and his accuser, Kathryn Mayorga, during oral arguments Wednesday at a special sitting at the law school on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they are victims of sexual assault, but Mayorga gave consent through her lawyers, including Leslie Mark Stovall, to make her name public.
Ronaldo is one of the most recognizable and richest athletes in the world. He leads his home country Portugal’s national team and has played for the Spanish team Real Madrid, the Italian club Juventus, Manchester United in England and now plays for the Saudi Arabian professional team Al Nassr.
Las Vegas police reopened a rape investigation after Mayorga’s lawsuit was filed, but Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson decided in 2019 not to pursue criminal charges. He said too much time had passed and evidence failed to show that Mayorga’s accusation could be proved to a jury.
Mayorga, a former teacher and model from the Las Vegas area, was 25 when she met Ronaldo at a nightclub in 2009 and went with him and other people to his hotel suite. She alleges in her lawsuit filed almost a decade later that the soccer star, then 24, sexually assaulted her in a bedroom.
Ronaldo, through his lawyers, maintained the sex was consensual. The two reached a confidentiality agreement in 2010 under which Stovall acknowledged that Mayorga received $375,000.
In dismissing the case last year, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey in Las Vegas took the unusual step of levying a $335,000 fine against Mayorga’s lead lawyer, Stovall, for acting in “bad faith” in filing the case on his client’s behalf.
Stovall’s appeal on Mayorga’s behalf, filed in March calls Dorsey’s ruling “a manifest abuse of discretion,” seeks to open the records and revive the case.
It alleges Mayorga wasn’t bound by the confidentiality agreement because Ronaldo or his associates violated it before a German news outlet, Der Spiegel, published an article in April 2017 titled “Cristiano Ronaldo’s Secret” based on documents obtained from what court filings called “whistleblower portal Football Leaks.”
Ronaldo’s lawyers argued — and the judge agreed — the “Football Leaks” documents and the confidentiality agreement are the product of privileged attorney-client discussions, there is no guarantee they are authentic and can’t be considered as evidence.
___
Sonner reported from Reno, Nevada.
veryGood! (741)
Related
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Bachelor Nation's Becca Kufrin Gives Birth to First Baby With Thomas Jacobs
- Horoscopes Today, September 23, 2023
- Senior Australian public servant steps aside during probe of encrypted texts to premiers’ friend
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- India had been riding a geopolitical high. But it comes to the UN with a mess on its hands
- A coal mine fire in southern China’s Guizhou province kills 16 people
- Sean Payton, Broncos left reeling after Dolphins dole out monumental beatdown
- Oklahoma parole board recommends governor spare the life of man on death row
- Fight erupts during UAW strike outside Stellantis plant, racial slurs and insults thrown
Ranking
- A steeplechase record at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Then a proposal. (He said yes.)
- QB Joe Burrow’s status unclear as Rams and Bengals meet for first time since Super Bowl 56
- William Byron withstands Texas chaos to clinch berth in Round of 8 of NASCAR playoffs
- How inflation will affect Social Security increases, income-tax provisions for 2024
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- 'Goodness wins out': The Miss Gay America pageant's 50-year journey to an Arkansas theater
- Facial recognition technology jailed a man for days. His lawsuit joins others from Black plaintiffs
- Dolphins rout Broncos 70-20, scoring the most points by an NFL team in a game since 1966
Recommendation
US auto safety agency seeks information from Tesla on fatal Cybertruck crash and fire in Texas
EU commissioner calls for more balanced trade with China and warns that Ukraine could divide them
Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner continue to fuel relationship rumors at Milan Fashion Week
Did she 'just say yes'? Taylor Swift attends Travis Kelce's game in suite with Donna Kelce
Louisiana high court temporarily removes Judge Eboni Johnson Rose from Baton Rouge bench amid probe
Autumn is here! Books to help you transition from summer to fall
EU Commission blocks Booking’s planned acquisition of flight booking provider Etraveli
'The Amazing Race' 2023 premiere: Season 35 cast, start date, time, how to watch