Rape lawsuit dismissed with prejudice

In November 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld the dismissal of a civil lawsuit filed against Cristiano Ronaldo concerning allegations connected to an incident in Las Vegas in 2009. The ruling effectively ended the case after years of legal proceedings in U.S. federal courts. The appellate court agreed with earlier findings that misconduct by the plaintiff’s attorney had irreparably compromised the litigation process. The lawsuit had originally been dismissed with prejudice in June 2022 by U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey in Nevada. A dismissal “with prejudice” meant the claims could not be filed again in court. Judge Dorsey ruled that attorney Leslie Mark Stovall had acted in bad faith by relying on confidential materials that had been leaked and allegedly stolen during the preparation of the case. According to court filings, the judge concluded that the misuse of the documents had tainted the proceedings to such an extent that dismissal was the only appropriate sanction. The allegations at the center of the case related to events alleged to have occurred in Las Vegas in 2009. Ronaldo consistently denied wrongdoing throughout the proceedings. Criminal charges were never filed in the matter. In 2019, prosecutors in Clark County, Nevada, announced that they would not pursue criminal prosecution, stating that the allegations could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt based on the available evidence. Following the 2022 dismissal, additional legal consequences were imposed on the plaintiff’s legal team. In February 2023, a judge ordered attorney Leslie Mark Stovall to pay more than $334,000 in legal fees to reimburse Ronaldo for costs associated with defending against what the court described as bad-faith litigation conduct. The sanctions were tied specifically to the handling and use of leaked legal documents during the case. The matter returned to the appellate level later in 2023 when an appeal sought to reopen the lawsuit. In November 2023, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s dismissal. The appellate judges agreed that the attorney’s misconduct was severe enough that lesser penalties would not have adequately addressed the violations. The ruling brought the long-running civil case to a formal conclusion in federal court. The case attracted extensive international media attention because of Ronaldo’s global public profile as one of the world’s most recognized athletes. Legal analysts noted that the court decisions focused heavily on procedural and ethical issues surrounding attorney conduct rather than relitigating the factual allegations themselves. #CristianoRonaldo #LegalCase #USCourt #FootballNews #NinthCircuit #SportsLaw #CR7