Ronaldo Awarded $334,637 By Judge Against Plaintiff’s Lawyer

Football star Cristiano Ronaldo received $278,000 from the lawyer of the woman who had accused him of rape after her sex attack charges were rejected.

A US judge, on February 15, ordered that Leslie Stovall, Kathryn Mayorga’s attorney, pay the money to Ronaldo in person.

It happens after the 38-year-old forward, a former player for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus, claimed the lawyer’s “reckless conduct” in the case had prejudiced him.

The star has consistently denied raping Mayorga, 40, in a hotel room in Las Vegas in 2009, insisting that they had consensual sex. As a result, police have never filed any charges against the star.

Mayorga alleged Ronaldo had given her $275,000 in 2010 to keep quiet about the assault and prevent her from filing a police report.

However, eight years later, after Football Leaks revealed specifics of discussions between Ronaldo’s attorneys, she filed a civil lawsuit for millions more.

Then, in June of last year, US district judge Jennifer Dorsey dismissed that claim on the grounds that the court’s request for certain records had been improperly obtained.

“Ronaldo would not have incurred a majority of the fees and costs that he spent on this litigation had it not been for the plaintiff counsel’s bad faith,” said the judge in her latest ruling.

The judge also rejected a request by former Mayorga to have Ronaldo reveal his retainer agreement with his attorney in order to determine whether he had received any fee discounts.

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Stovall has been accused by the judge of tainting the case “beyond redemption” with his use of hacked documents revealing conversations between Ronaldo and his attorneys concerning the rape allegations.

The documents, according to Ronaldo and his attorney, were falsified in an effort to malign him.

Instead of the whole $506,000, he was attempting to recover in legal fees, he was given more than half of that sum.

“It was clear early on that Mayorga’s allegations were rooted in the purloined materials,” said the Las Vegas-based judge.

“Ronaldo shares at least part of the blame for this case dragging on for as long as it did although he had to recognise its dubious underpinnings.

“I thus decline to award fees for the work Ronaldo’s attorneys performed in discovery or preparation for trial, as that work could have been avoided.”