AP, Las Vegas :
Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyers won a courtroom bid Thursday to block a Nevada woman accusing the soccer superstar of raping her in Las Vegas in 2009 from digging into the validity of their 2010 confidentiality agreement and $375,000 hush-money payment.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts told Kathryn Mayorga’s attorney that it will be up to a higher-level judge to decide if her effort to obtain more money advances to trial or is diverted to closed-door arbitration.
Albregts, who was named in August to the U.S. District Court, now handles filings and pretrial arguments in a case that Ronaldo’s lawyers want dismissed or moved to private talks.
He said his preliminary review of documents filed under seal in the civil lawsuit before U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey led him to agree with Ronaldo’s lawyers that the records should, at least for now, remain sealed.
Mayorga’s attorney, Leslie Mark Stovall, declined to comment about the ruling.
The Associated Press generally doesn’t name people who say they’re victims of sexual assault, but Mayorga gave consent through her attorneys last year to be identified.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyers won a courtroom bid Thursday to block a Nevada woman accusing the soccer superstar of raping her in Las Vegas in 2009 from digging into the validity of their 2010 confidentiality agreement and $375,000 hush-money payment.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts told Kathryn Mayorga’s attorney that it will be up to a higher-level judge to decide if her effort to obtain more money advances to trial or is diverted to closed-door arbitration.
Albregts, who was named in August to the U.S. District Court, now handles filings and pretrial arguments in a case that Ronaldo’s lawyers want dismissed or moved to private talks.
He said his preliminary review of documents filed under seal in the civil lawsuit before U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey led him to agree with Ronaldo’s lawyers that the records should, at least for now, remain sealed.
Mayorga’s attorney, Leslie Mark Stovall, declined to comment about the ruling.
The Associated Press generally doesn’t name people who say they’re victims of sexual assault, but Mayorga gave consent through her attorneys last year to be identified.
