Ronaldo wins courtroom bid against rape accuser

Nevada based Kathryn Mayorga wanted the court to question the validity of the 2010 settlement and confidentiality agreement she had signed in connection with a rape case she had filed against football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Mayorga believes that she was coerced into signing the agreement, Ronaldo's lawyers claim otherwise. U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts has not entertained Mayorga's bid to unseal the case records.

In August, Albregts was appointed to the U.S. District Court to handle filings and pre-trial arguments. After going through the preliminary documents of the civil lawsuit, Albregts agreed with the football star's lawyers to not allow the records to be opened. Albregts also informed Mayorga's lawyer that whether the case will be a trial or a closed-door arbitration can be decided by a higher-level judge.

Ronaldo's lawyers want the civil case to be either handled though private talks or get dismissed. For now, Kendelee Works and Peter Christiansen, have managed to get Mayorga's bid stalled.

AP News pointed out that the names of sexual assault victims are not usually disclosed, however, Mayorga gave consent to be identified as the victim in this case.

While Ronaldo still claims that Mayorga had consented to sex, Mayorga says that the player had exposed himself before forcibly engaging in sexual intercourse.

Leslie Mark Stovall, Mayorga's lawyer, wants communication records between Ronaldo and his lawyers to be disclosed. Stovall claims that the records of the communication ahead of the 2010 agreement signing will show that the player and the lawyer took undue advantage of his client.

Both Mayorga and Stovall have been vocal about the learning disability Mayorga had as a child. Mayorga also claims that during the mediation, Ronaldo's lawyers did not allow her family members to be present to increase pressure on her. She believes that the legality of the contract is questionable since she lacked the legal capacity to sign it.

However, Ronaldo's attorney pointed out that Mayorga was 25 at the time of the signing. They claim that Mayorga did not display any sign of incapacity or incapability of understanding when singing the contract and taking the $375k (£293k) settlement.

In 2017, reports of the contact became public after electronic data related to the case had been hacked. Works and Christiansen said that the documents released were doctored to damage the player's reputation.