“Due to the abuses of his attorney and the flagrant circumvention of proper legal process, Mayorga is losing his ability to pursue this matter and attempt to unravel the settlement of claims which themselves involve serious allegations of a very personal nature.” , wrote Dorsey.
The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning Mayorga cannot refile the suit.
Mayorga said she was coerced into signing a nondisclosure agreement and a $375,000 settlement following the alleged rape, which Ronaldo said was a consensual sexual encounter. Mayorga had asked the judge to cancel this agreement.
The existence of the settlement was first reported by German newspaper Der Spiegel in 2017 using confidential leaked communications from Ronaldo’s lawyers.
The court found that one of Mayorga’s lawyers, Leslie Stovall, had contacted the source of this leak to request these documents, including “reports and communications from lawyers and investigators representing and defending Ronaldo following the sexual assault through the negotiations and the conclusion of the settlement and non-disclosure agreement.”
“Stovall’s repeated use of stolen and privileged documents to prosecute this case presents every indication of bad faith conduct,” Judge Dorsey wrote on Friday.
The judge concluded that “the misappropriated documents and their confidential contents were woven into the very fabric of Mayorga’s claims”, stating that simply removing the leaked documents from the case and disqualifying Stovall would not adequately resolve the case. misconduct.
CNN has reached out to Stovall to comment on the decision.
Ronaldo’s attorney, Peter Christiansen, said in an email to CNN on Saturday: “Since the plaintiff first filed a lawsuit in 2018, we have maintained that the action was brought in bad faith. The outright dismissal of Plaintiff’s case should give all those following this case renewed confidence in this country’s judicial process while deterring those who seek to undermine it.”
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