Conor McGregor’s lawyer agrees to respond to US sexual assault civil lawsuit

The woman, named as “Jane Doe” in legal papers lodged in the United States, claims that McGregor “engaged in unlawful sexual contact” in a men’s bathroom at an NBA finals game “for his own sexual gratification” and to “degrade” her.

She claims the 37-year-old attempted to orally and anally sexually assault her in a rest room in the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida on June 9-10, 2023.

The woman’s layer, James Dunn, has been attempting to serve a summons on Mr McGregor in relation to the lawsuit since January. Agents in Ireland were instructed to serve Mr McGregor after the summons, issued in Florida, was sent to the Central Office of the High Court in Ireland.

However, in a notice filed yesterday in the US, Mr McGregor’s lawyer Barbara Llanes agreed to waive the service of a summons. She now has 90 days to file an answer to the claims or enter a motion on behalf of her client.

Jane Doe, 49, claims she had her face slammed against a bathroom stall and was put in an armlock by the “intoxicated” fighter.

An incident report was filed with the city of Miami’s police department on June 11, 2023, at 6pm, less than 48 hours after the alleged sexual assault happened. The Florida State Attorney’s Office declined to go forward with charges in the alleged assault in October 2023.

Ms Llanes has previously dismissed the case. Last week she told the Irish Independent:

"These civil claims, which the plaintiff has cycled through numerous lawyers, remain as baseless as ever.

"My client’s account has been consistent throughout and is supported by an extensive police investigation into the matter. Following that investigation, which included a thorough analysis of the video evidence and interviews with eyewitnesses, authorities determined that there was no case to pursue."

Separately, last month, McGregor withdrew his application to introduce new evidence in his appeal against the finding of a High Court jury in a civil trial that he raped Nikita Hand.

The proposed new evidence was from a couple, Samantha O'Reilly and her partner Steven Cummins, who were former neighbours of Nikita Hand.

They had previously claimed, in an affidavit, to have witnessed a row between Nikita Hand and a former partner in the home they shared at the time.

The Court of Appeal has said it intends to refer Mr McGregor’s application to withdraw the “fresh evidence” to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Ms Hand sued Mr McGregor alleging she was raped in a hotel in Dublin in December 2018.

The jury found in her favour and awarded her almost €250,000 in damages.

He denied raping Ms Hand. However, last November a civil jury answered “yes” to the question “Did Conor ­McGregor assault Nikita Hand?”.

The trial judge, Mr Justice Alexander Owens, said the jury had determined that McGregor had raped her.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - Tuesday July 15th