Conor McGregor’s NBA Finals Sex Assault Case Moves Forward

We need to talk about Conor McGregor. again. The former UFC champ is facing a. serious civil suit in Florida where he. is accused of sexually assaulting a. woman after an NBA finals game and his. attorney just allowed this case to move. forward. We're going to get into the. latest right now. Welcome to Sidebar. presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. All right, we got to talk about former. UFC star Conor McGregor. In fact, the. last time we spoke about him was last. year when he was found liable for. sexually assaulting a woman out in.

Ireland. We covered that case a lot on. Sidebar. If you're interested, you can. go back, check out all those episodes. It's actually interesting because it was. reported that he just dropped his. application to introduce new evidence in. his appeal of that jury decision. He was. ordered to pay more than £248,000. in damages. Always maintain he didn't do. anything wrong here. He didn't do. anything he was accused of. Anyway, we're not talking about that. What we're. talking about regarding the 37year-old. is a legal case that he's facing in the. United States in Florida. And no, it.

doesn't have to do with the news that. broke this past week of rapper Aelia. Banks, who allegedly shared nude selfie. photos of the athlete in front of a. mirror that he reportedly sent to her. He then allegedly sent her a text not to. speak about it. That's a whole other. issue. We're not talking about that. No. This concerns an unidentified Jane Doe, who is suing the former multi-weight UFC. champion, filed the suit in January of. this year for allegedly attacking her, namely slamming her face against a. bathroom stall, putting her in an arm.

lock before allegedly raping her, all. while he's in this intoxicated state. So, this purportedly occurred at Miami's. Casia Center back on June 9th, 2023. And. the reason we're talking about it is. because it's officially moving forward, this lawsuit. His legal team has removed. an obstacle for Jane Doe. They have. waved formally serving the complaint, which would have meant that he needed to. be served in Ireland. No longer. Now, his lawyer, Barbara Giannis, is. reportedly ready to appear for him in.

Florida federal district court. And let. me tell you, before he seemingly agreed. to wave formal service in Ireland, this. was a little bit of a legal headache. The Independent is reporting that Jane. Doe's lawyer had been trying to serve. McGregor since January. that process. server agents in Ireland were tasked. with trying to serve him in the country. after her lawyer sent the summons to the. central office of the high court in. Ireland. Janeo's lawyer even got a 100. day 80 extension to try to serve him. So. why do this? What does this mean for.

him? What could a trial show? A lot to. get into when it comes to this lawsuit. So for that, let me bring in right now. nationally recognized trial lawyer David. Ring, who specializes in cases of sexual. abuse and assault. David, thank you so. much for coming back here on Sidebar. Appreciate it. >> Thank you for having me, Jesse. >> David, legally, is it strategic to wave. service here? Why do it? >> Uh, I think it is. I mean, look, at some. point, uh, the the Jane Doe's lawyer can. go to the court and say, "I have made.

all of these attempts to try to serve. this person. I've been acting in good. faith and diligence, and they're ducking. service. They won't let me serve them.". And then the court might say, "You know. what? Then you can just serve them by by. publishing it." And the problem with. that for for Conor McGregor is that um. you know he risks having his default. taken. So if he kind of blows off. getting served, if he doesn't appear in. the case, the the plainif automatically. wins. The last thing he wants is to be. in default. So that's why they accepted.

service. >> By the way, his lawyer couldn't have. done this without his permission. Right. >> Correct. The lawyer's got to have the. client's permission to accept service. I. mean, it's a big deal, but you can. imagine how difficult it would be to. actually serve someone like Conor. McGregor, especially out of the country, but just getting close to him and. handing him a legal document, which is. what the process server has to do. They. actually have to hand it to him and he. has to accept it. And it's very. difficult to get close to a celebrity.

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liver disease, then visit. www.forthepeople.com/food. forthepeople.com/food. or scan the QR code on screen to learn. more. So now I want to get into what. happens next and we are going to get. into the allegations uh in the. complaint. Before we do that legally, what happens now? She files an answer to. the complaint. Does she file a motion uh. to dismiss? What can we expect from both. of those avenues if that's really where. there might be going? >> Yeah, Conor McGregor's lawyer could file. either one of those things. She could. file an answer which says, you know, at.

the moment she's not disputing the legal. technicalities in the lawsuit or she. could file a motion to dismiss saying, "Hey, they haven't pled what's legally. required." I don't think that really. would have much of a chance at this. point. So, I suspect she files some sort. of answer and they proceed on to what's. called discovery, depositions, and. document requests and things like that. >> Yeah, answer is pretty simplistic, right? It's either you admit, you deny, or you say you don't have enough. information about like each one of the.

paragraphs uh in a complaint or the. sections. Um and yeah, motion to. dismiss, you know, basically failure to. state a claim. Um okay, so you move on. to this. One of the things I was curious. about if this is now going to proceed. and we kind of saw this in the Shawn. Comb civil cases, too. the first area of. attack. I do wonder, David, do you think. Conor McGregor's legal team is going to. try to ask the court that Jane Doe. should not be able to proceed using a. pseudonym, which could be a win for him? Because if the court agrees and says,

"Listen, she has to go forward revealing. her identity. It's only in the interest. of fairness. She was the one who brought. the lawsuit. He has a right to confront. her. If she has to reveal herself, she. may not want to move forward publicly.". I mean, do you think A that's something. he may do and B do you think that's. something that might be successful for. him? >> Absolutely on on both counts. I mean, that is a very strategic move if he does. it. And exactly what you said, Jesse, is. that kind of forces her hand. You know, she wants to be anonymous and she wants.

to be Jane Doe with good reason. I mean, the courts generally allow that, but. some courts don't. And so, he could very. well file a motion saying she needs to. reveal her identity. what we know about. her. I I would never reveal her. identity, but it's been published is. that, you know, she's she's an executive. at some sort of financial firm. And so, you know, she's got a a business. reputation there and it very well could. have the outcome of her saying, you know. what, I'm not willing to put my name on. this lawsuit for a lot of different.

reasons. And she walks away from it. It's a it's a distinct possibility. >> So, now there are aspects of this case. that I want to talk about. Okay. Okay, so we go to the lawsuit and according to. the lawsuit, as you mentioned, this. woman is apparently a vice president on. Wall Street at a quote high-profile. financial institution. And she claims. that Conor McGregor was a game four of. the NBA finals between the Miami Heat. and the Denver Nuggets on June 9th, 2023. at the Casia Center to promote and. advertise a pain relief spray. Now, Jane.

do says that at this point, security and. staff of the arena knew Conor McGregor. was a potential danger to those around. him because of his intoxication. But the. allegation is they continually provided. him with liquor, allowing him to pour. his own drinks. And here's what the. lawsuit says about what happened next or. what it claims. Quote, Jane Doe's. acquaintance stated, "We are leaving.". And Conor Anthony McGregor's private. security or a friend of Conor Anthony. McGregor stated, "Connor told me to come.

get you." And grabbed Jane Doe's wrist. and led Jane Doe and the acquaintance. toward the exit of the courtside club, apparently where they had been hanging. out and conversing. And before leaving. the courtside club, Conor Anthony. McGregor's friend or security stopped at. the entrance to the men's bathroom. Jane. Doe requested of the friend to let go of. her wrist and he said, "No, Connor will. kill me if I lose you." So, according to. the lawsuit, McGregor led Jane Doe and. her friend into a restroom, allowing.

Jane to go into a stall, wouldn't let. the acquaintance follow, and I'm going. to warn you right now, the description. that she gives is highly disturbing. Okay, from the lawsuit, quote, "While. Jane Doe was evacuating her bladder and. seated on the commode, Conor Anthony. McGregor appeared to Jane Doe to be. under the influence of intoxicants. And. then she says that he attempted to force. oral sex on her without her consent. Thereafter, Jane Doe pulled her pants up. and stood up and attempted to exit the. stall." Conor Anthony McGregor slammed.

Jane Doe against the wall face first and. put Jane Doe in an armlock and attempted. to forcefully sexually assault her. Now. Jane Doe is suing McGregor for battery. and also that arena and security for. gross negligence. She's looking for a. judgment that includes compensatory. damages, medical treatment costs. The. lawsuit says that she reserves the right. to seek leave to amend to pursue. punitive damages. Let's stop right. there, David. from your perspective, this is a graphic account. It is a very.

specific account. Um, what do you take. away from it? Because, you know, the. whole question becomes of credibility. and how could she prove this? Um, and at. the same time, what she's seeking is. quite substantial. Well, hey, look, if if her allegations. are true and and if she's able to prove. her case and she's a credible witness, that's a very very large case and a. juryy's going to award her a lot of. financial compensation. We don't know if. it's true or not. I mean, he's going to.

have an entirely different version of. events. But if her story is true and the. jury believes her, that's that's a very. very significant case and a and a a. horrific case. and a juryy's going to. award a lot of money against Conor Conor. McGregor. >> Now, here's what's interesting. Um, in. an amended complaint that was filed a. few weeks later, Jane Doe has apparently. released all of the codefendants from. the federal lawsuit. So, it leaves just. McGregor and the one cause of action of. battery. And the amended complaint.

indicates that Jane will pursue a case. against the Arena, the Miami Heat, and. other corporations in state court. Why. do that? Well, that's an interesting. piece of strategy. Uh, look, you know, she has to sue him in federal court. because he's he's not a citizen of the. US and then for her to bring the other. defendants in state court. I I I think. what the strategy is there is that she. wants to proceed with the case against. McGregor first and then see how that. plays out and then deal with the case.

against the arena after that. That's a. very difficult lawsuit against the the. Arena against Casia Arena. That's a. tough case to win and I think she's. probably saying I'm going to focus on. the federal case against McGregor first. >> I'm going to ask you about that because. I'll get into why she's trying to hold. him liable. Uh the first thing I will. tell everybody is that McGregor's lawyer. again uh Miss Giannis called the suit at. the time a quote new false story. After. a thorough investigation at the time, the state's attorney concluded that.

there was no case to pursue. almost 2. years and at least three lawyers later, the plaintiff has a new false story. We. are confident that this case too will be. dismissed. And that's key. That's key. because there apparently was an incident. report that was filed with Miami police. 2 days 2 days after this allegedly. happened on June 11th. But in the end, the Florida State Attorney's Office. declined to prosecute and it was. announced that the criminal case would. be closed. according to TMZ at the time. who apparently reviewed a memo from the.

prosecutor's office. Authorities. discovered there was a bathroom. attendant that was present for the. alleged attack, but quote, "Didn't hear. any signs of distress." And TMZ also. reported that Jane Doe didn't tell her. friend what happened and merely told her. mother that she met McGregor. Now, David, is that a problem for her? >> That's a problem for her. I mean, look, you know, juries look at credibility of. witnesses and they take their own. experiences to the courtroom and they. say, "Is this how a sexual assault. victim would would act?" And so, the.

witnesses are are crucial. And so, if. you truly have a bathroom attendant who. is in there saying, "I didn't hear one. thing out of the ordinary," that's not. going to help her case. And if her. friend says she came back and she seemed. to be acting completely normal, again, that's not going to necessarily help her. case. You know, the other thing you. mentioned, Jesse, that kind of raises a. red flag is that she's gone through. three lawyers already. And so to me, anytime I see that, that just signals. like there's something a miss if someone. has already cycled through three lawyers.

on their case and it's barely getting. off the ground. I don't know if that's. true or not. I don't know what's behind. the scenes there, but it's just a red. flag that I see. >> How much does the criminal investigation. come up in a civil case, either both for. the plaintiff's side or the defense's. side? Well, again, another huge thing. that you mentioned is is the criminal. case. Now, look, on Jane Doe's favor, that's it's fantastic that she went and. reported this right away. Within a day. or so, she reported to the police. because if she hadn't, then the argument. is, well, you never went to the police.

So, she did. That's great. And their. investigation doesn't sound like it's. going to help her that much, though. It. sounds like it's it's all the witnesses. they interviewed kind of tend to favor. uh McGregor's version of the story. The. other thing is the fact that he was not. criminally charged. Again, that's that's. going to weigh in his favor. You know, if there was a criminal charge here, boy, then she's in the driver's seat on. this case. You know, he's being. criminally charged, but he's not. They. said there's not enough proof, not.

enough evidence. Now, we know there's. different standards of proof in the two. types of cases, but still, it's it. doesn't help her that he was not. criminally charged after a full. investigation. >> Yeah. and and not even necessarily based. on the reporting that he's a you know a. celebrity and they don't want to charge. It's that there's evidence that might. contradict or not support her account. Now, in response to this, okay, so her. lawyer said, quote, "After the Miami. Dade County Prosecutor's Office elected. not to pursue criminal charges, a civil. case is the only avenue that my client.

has to seek justice in this case. My. client has thought long and hard about. the decision to pursue this civil case. and is fearful of the effect it may have. on her job on Wall Street. Which David, it makes me wonder if this does go to. trial and I imagine she would have to. take the stand to explain this. That's. something she would lean into, right? She would say, "I voluntarily chose to. file this lawsuit. It's not something I. wanted to do. It's not something uh that. I was looking to do, but I felt like I. had no choice. And I'm putting my. credibility, my reputation, potentially.

my career at stake by publicly accusing. um you know, Conor McGregor of this. >> No, absolutely true. I mean, she she can. absolutely say, "Hey, I went to the. police and and now my only recourse to. get some form of justice is in the. courts is through a civil case, and. that's why I'm doing this." And so, hey, look, I've had plenty of cases where uh. the police for whatever reason or the. district attorney chose not to bring. criminal charges against the perpetrator.

and then, you know, us representing the. victim, we go on and bring a civil suit. and win and prove the case. And and so, you know, the the two don't necessarily. go hand inand all the time. There's. plenty of of righteous cases out there. where where there weren't criminal. charges brought. Mhm. By the way, um. David, this other part to the lawsuit, or that was part of the federal lawsuit, now going to be part of state. So, apparently there's an allegation here. that McGregor that night had punched the.

Heat mascot Bernie again earlier in the. night before the alleged attack, claiming that he sent this guy in the. mascot outfit to the hospital. And as. part of the product promotion that he. was doing, McGregor went out on the. court during a break with an actor. inside the costume. Apparently ended up. punching him twice, knocking him to the. ground. It wasn't like play acting by. all accounts, but the mascot had to be. pulled off the court. Apparently, you. know, had to seek aid. And the. allegation is in this lawsuit is that.

McGregor was allowed to stay for the. rest of the game and was still given. access to alcohol even though he'. allegedly knocked somebody's lights out. in the middle of the court. So, the. lawsuit alleges that arena staff quote. had chargeable knowledge of a heightened. risk of battery being carried out by. McGregor again before the assault. happened. So, that's an interesting. argument. Again, they seem to be. separating it in terms of how how she's. going to be holding um the arena or the. staff liable or the Heat liable. Is that.

a good argument to hold them liable. whether it's a state court or a federal. court? I. >> I'll tell it's interesting. I mean, it. definitely adds a twist to the case that. that is very interesting. And here's my. take on that because I I went and. watched the video of him at halftime. And I mean, he punches this mascot. He. punches him while the mascot standing up. and then the mascot falls down, and. that's probably part of the shtick. But. then he lays a punch into him while he's. on the ground, and it's a real punch,

and this mascot's not moving. And so, uh, it's an interesting part of the case. because I think the the important part. of this is how intoxicated was Conor. McGregor. So, if he was super. intoxicated, visibly intoxicated, you. know, this guy's out of control. He's. he's completely screwed up this halftime. uh promotional event. He he's he's. clearly punches the guy and sends him to. the hospital. And then they keep serving. him alcohol. Okay. I'm I'm in on that.

theory. I can see that that that kind of. keeps the arena into the case. It does. kind of show that, hey, this guy's out. of control and we either need to remove. him from the arena or stop serving him. alcohol. Is that the duty of an arena? Is that a duty of a sports organization. to make sure that all of the patrons are. safe from other people? Um or is that is. that part of their responsibility? And I. guess, you know, it is true if that. incident didn't allegedly happen on the.

court, there might have been a difficult. argument to say that they're somehow. responsible. You know, I think it would. have been different if somebody brought. in a weapon and there was lack security. to check the weapon being brought in. But other than that, you know, it's hard. to control the behavior of everybody. Fights happen all the time in sporting. events. Um, but this one you're saying. might cross the line because of what. happened or allegedly happened on the. court. >> Yes. So the arena does, you know, have a. duty to their their patrons, their. spectators, their paying customers to,

you know, have reasonable safeguards in. place. That doesn't mean they're going. to stop every fight. Doesn't mean. they're going to stop every person from. drinking too much alcohol, but they have. to have some reasonable safeguards in. place because they know these types of. things happen that people get get drunk. and get in fights. with McGregor. I. think the argument that Jane Doe is. making is they they knew they were on. notice. They had knowledge that he was. overly intoxicated, that he was being,

you know, violent and reckless in this. halftime event, and that it carried over. to his actions uh with Jane Doe and with. other people uh in the aftermath of of. halftime. Yeah, I think it's a a. legitimate argument to make. Is it going. to carry the day? I don't know, but it's. a legitimate argument for Jane Doe to. make. >> Also, by the way, David, the timing is. interesting of this lawsuit. So, my. understanding, right, if we look at the. timeline of this, this is after Conor. McGregor was found liable in Ireland for.

sexual assault. Do you think that has. any bearing? You think that's a factor. on this lawsuit at all? >> It wouldn't surprise me if it was a. factor. And and look, that's another. really important thing that's weighing. in favor of Jane Doe's case is that. Conor McGregor was found civily liable. by a court, even though it's in Ireland, by a court of sexually assaulting. another female. Civily liable. And so I. think that's really important because, hey, he's done it before. A jury or a.

court has found him liable for this. And. so, you know, conceivably Jane Doe maybe. in her case, this is totally up to the. judge. great judicial discretion, but. she may be able to have that other uh. victim testify in her case that, hey, Conor McGregor has done this in the. past. Or at the very least, at the very. least, it could signal to her that while. the circumstances are different and the. players are different and the locations. are very different, she might say, "Hey,

that was more of a test case." And you. at least had a finding of liability. there. While the standard of proof might. be different, you could see at least a. jury was agreeable to finding him. liable. That's a point in my corner that. perhaps a jury would find the same. thing. But to be fair, just because he. was found liable in one court, in one. case doesn't mean that he would be found. liable in this one. It's just an. interesting update. David Ring, I wanted. to bring you on to talk more about it. Thank you so much for taking the time. Really appreciate it. >> All right. Thank you, Jesse.

>> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your. podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to. you next time. [Music].