Source: Chris Unger / Getty
MMA fighter Conor McGregor will not face criminal charges over allegations that he violently sexually assaulted a woman at an NBA Finals game earlier this year in Miami between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat.
According to TMZ Sports, which obtained a closeout memo from prosecutors, it was determined that “insufficient evidence” and a lack of non-contradicting “corroborating witnesses” would prevent them from proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the former UFC featherweight was guilty of the attack on his accuser in the men’s bathroom at the Kaseya Center.
From TMZ:
In the doc, prosecutors wrote they viewed CCTV footage from the Kaseya Center on the night of the incident … and it showed McGregor and his accuser did go into a men’s restroom together for approximately five minutes. They wrote it also showed that after the two left the lavatory, they were seen together in a club inside the NBA arena until they went their separate ways at around 12:40 AM.
Prosecutors added, however, that when they interviewed an attendant who was in the same bathroom … he told them that while he did see the UFC star and his accuser go into a stall together, he “did not hear any signs of distress or sounds that would corroborate that whatever was occurring was not consensual.”
Officials also said they spoke with McGregor’s accuser’s friend … who told them the alleged victim never mentioned that Conor had attacked her. In fact, prosecutors wrote in the document that the accuser’s friend said the woman had called her mother that same night “to tell her she had met” McGregor.
Now, obviously, none of that means the accuser wasn’t assaulted. It isn’t uncommon for a victim to remain loyal to an abuser, and it’s unfair how often that common behavior is used to discredit victims when they come forward. However, McGregor’s accuser is also alleged to have asked police detectives if they believed the man she had accused “would like to ‘settle’ or ‘pay her off’ if she did not pursue charges,” according to the documents. Now, that would be a major red flag worth considering, and it would certainly cast sought on the accuser’s claims.
“In light of the above facts and circumstances,” prosecutors wrote in the memo, “the State would not be able to satisfy its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
McGregor’s attorney, Barbara Llanes, told TMZ that the defendant is glad to ordeal is over.
“After a thorough investigation, including a review of videos and interviews with eyewitnesses, the authorities have concluded that there is no case to pursue against my client, Conor McGregor,” Llanes told TMZ. “On behalf of my client, his family and his fans we are pleased this is now over.”
