Cristiano Ronaldo has asked that sealed documents which contain ‘communications’ in relation to his Las Vegas rape case be ‘stricken’ from court records.
Ronaldo was the subject of a criminal probe in Nevada after former model Kathryn Mayorga went public last September with claims she was sexually assaulted by the footballer in a hotel room in 2009.
The Juventus star was told in July that he will not face criminal charges after police failed to find enough evidence to prosecute, but Mayorga filed court papers in September which requested a jury trial in her ongoing civil suit.
In new documents obtained by the Sun, Ronaldo’s legal team asked the United States District Court for Nevada for certain exhibits to be ‘entirely stricken’ from court records.
Cristiano Ronaldo has asked that sealed documents which contain ‘communications’ in relation to his Las Vegas rape case be ‘stricken’ from court records
The papers, submitted on October 1, ask that documents which ‘consist almost entirely’ of ‘communications’ between the footballer, his lawyers and investigators ‘remain sealed’ until it is decided whether they should be removed from the record.
Later in the document, Ronaldo’s lawyers claim that the footballer ‘does not believe such documents are without alteration’.
It states: ‘While Mr. Ronaldo does not believe such documents are without alteration, he nevertheless has never agreed to waive any of the protections of the attorney-client privilege or attorney work product doctrine.
‘Accordingly, Mr. Ronaldo intends to move, pursuant to Rules 104 and 502 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, to have Documents 0003-0257 and all references thereto, entirely stricken from the record. Plaintiff intends to oppose, arguing that exceptions to such privileges apply.’
Mayorga’s legal team have argued these documents are a valid part of the case.
American model-turned-teacher Mayorga claimed the football star raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009 after the pair met on a night out and she agreed to go back to his hotel room.
Later in the document, Ronaldo’s lawyers claim that the footballer ‘does not believe such documents are without alteration’
While police failed to find enough evidence to prosecute Ronaldo, Mayorga is pressing ahead with a civil case which seeks to nullify a non-disclosure agreement she signed with the athlete in 2010.
She claims his legal team exploited her vulnerable mental state in order to get her to sign the document.
In court papers filed in August, Ronaldo’s legal team acknowledged for the first time that Mayorga was paid $375,000 at the time she first made the accusations to police in order ‘to maintain the confidentiality of their dispute.’
However, they note that the payment in no way acknowledges guilt, and that in fact ‘the [agreement] made clear Mr. Ronaldo disputed [Mayorga’s] allegations and in no way conceded she was injured.
‘To the contrary, the [agreement] stated in no uncertain terms that Mr. Ronaldo was agreeing to pay [Mayorga] a sum of money in order to maintain the confidentiality of their dispute.’
Ronaldo was the subject of a criminal probe in Nevada after former model Kathryn Mayorga (pictured together) went public last September with claims she was sexually assaulted by the footballer
Ronaldo’s lawyers argue that the previous agreement and Nevada’s statue of limitations make Mayorga’s lawsuit null and void.
They also say she has yet to present any concrete evidence that she ‘lacked mental capacity’ when she signed the NDA.
Last October, Ronaldo said: ‘I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me. Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything I am and believe in.’
His mother Dolores has stuck by Ronaldo throughout the months-long investigation, saying in February that she had ‘confidence in my son when it comes to what happened’.
The civil lawsuit, in which Mayorga sought more than $200,000 in damages, was been moved to federal court in August. She has since requested a jury trial in the case.
Police could not conduct ‘any meaningful investigation’ at the time because Mayorga declined to say who assaulted her or where it occurred, US prosecutors said.
As a result, detectives were ‘unable to search for and impound vital forensic evidence,’ and video showing Ronaldo and Mayorga together was lost, they added.
Mayorga contacted police in August of last year to ask that the case be reopened, at which point she named Ronaldo as the alleged assailant.
Her lawyers have said she was inspired to speak out and make her claim public by the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.