Ronaldo Lawyers Want to Block Las Vegas Police Files in Palms Casino Rape Allegation

Posted on: December 10, 2021, 07:22h.

Last updated on: December 10, 2021, 11:40h.

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Lawyers for Cristiano Ronaldo are seeking to suppress Las Vegas Metro Police (LVMPD) records of an investigation into a rape claim made against the soccer star.

Las Vegas woman Kathryn Mayorga alleges that Ronaldo raped her at his penthouse at the Palms Casino on June 13, 2009. She sued the Portuguese national in 2018, claiming battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, coercion, fraud, and abuse of a vulnerable person.

In October, a magistrate judge recommended the case be tossed. That’s because it was largely based on leaked documents that were privileged communications between Ronaldo and his attorneys.

However, it is up to Nevada District Jennifer Dorsey to decide whether to take up the recommendation and dismiss the case.

Stolen Documents

The documents in question were stolen by the soccer whistleblower website Football Leaks and passed to German news magazine Der Spiegel, which ran a story on them in 2018.

The article includes conversations reported to have taken place between Ronaldo and his legal team. The talks appear to corroborate parts of Mayorga’s account of the alleged incident at the Palms.

Ronaldo’s lawyers say the conversations have been faked.

The Der Spiegel story prompted Mayorga to sue Ronaldo and caused the LVMPD to reopen the case. They closed it in July 2019, saying the allegations could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

NYT Fights for Access

Now, The New York Times wants the LVMPD to hand over the investigative files, which it says the department is legally obligated to do under the Nevada Public Records Act.

These are understood to contain around 200 of the Football Leaks documents, which were passed to the LVMPD by Mayorga’s lawyer, Leslie Stovall.

(G)ood cause exists to prohibit the disclosure of LVMPD’s investigative file because it contains stolen documents and communications labeled attorney-client privilege and work product, which Plaintiff improperly obtained from an alleged cyber hacker from whom her counsel specifically sought privileged attorney-client communications and work product,” Ronaldo’s lawyers wrote in court filings this month.

“Plaintiff then submitted the stolen documents to LVMPD in support of her request that LVMPD reopen a decade-old investigation to prosecute Defendant,” they added.

The Times said it would “object to this improper attempt to interfere with the public’s right to see governmental documents.”