Memo Reveals Why Conor McGregor Will Not Face Charges Over Miami Arena Sex Assault Claim

A memo from the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office has shed light on witness accounts and surveillance footage that led prosecutors to drop their criminal probe into claims that Conor McGregor sexually assaulted a woman in the bathroom of a luxury club at the Miami Heat's arena.

The state attorney's office filed the closeout memo this week, stating that it found insufficient evidence to file charges against McGregor over the June incident in the Kaseya Center's Courtside Club, where the woman alleged the Ultimate Fighting Championship legend forced her into a sexual encounter in a men's bathroom stall.

Prosecutors pointed to witness statements by a security guard, bathroom attendant, and the accuser's friend, who were in the bathroom area but heard no signs of a struggle while McGregor and the woman spent time inside the stall, according to the closeout memo.

"The crime of sexual battery requires the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim did not consent to the sexual activity. Based on the witness statements and other evidence available in the case, the state would not be able to meet this burden in this case," the memo says.

The encounter took place after Game 4 of the NBA Finals on June 9. During the game, McGregor had a staged boxing match with the Heat's mascot, Burnie, which reportedly sent the mascot to the hospital from injuries he sustained from a McGregor blow. That night, McGregor met the alleged victim at the Courtside Club, the arena's pricey members-only venue, where dance music pounds, celebrities mingle with clubgoers, and a neon sign declares, "It was all a dream."

The woman told police she danced and partied with the mixed martial arts star, and that he invited her back to a hotel room at the Four Seasons, though they never wound up there. She alleged that he took her to the club's bathroom stall and tried to have oral and anal sex, persisting after she told him to stop while pleading, "No, not here." At one point, she claimed, he pushed her up against a wall.

She went to the Miami Police Department's station two days after the incident to report the alleged assault. The closeout memo states that police interviewed her, and while interacting with detectives, the woman asked for legal advice, including whether McGregor would offer her a settlement over her claims. (Police explained they could not provide legal assistance.) On June 12, she returned for another police interview after consulting a lawyer, Ariel Mitchell.

Detectives thought about setting up a phone call in which they would eavesdrop on a conversation between the woman and McGregor while she confronted him about the allegations. But police ditched the idea after learning that the woman's legal counsel had already reached out to McGregor's camp and asked them to settle the claim, according to the memo.

"Based on the subject being tipped off to the possibility of an investigation, detectives opted not to attempt a controlled call," the memo states.

Among the witnesses interviewed during the criminal investigation was a Courtside Club security guard, who told detectives he knew the alleged victim well, as she was a regular at the club, according to the memo. The security guard told police that the club assigned him to look after McGregor that night and that he saw McGregor, referred to as "the subject" in the memo, enter the men's bathroom.

"While waiting for the subject, the victim kept trying to bypass security to enter, stating, 'He wants me in there.' The subject then exited the stall and grabbed the victim by the hand and led her into the stall," the memo states, recounting the security guard's narrative.

The alleged victim's friend told police the two of them went into the bathroom together, but she waited near the sink while the woman was in the stall with McGregor.

"The friend did not hear any signs of struggle or force," the memo states.

Surveillance footage from the club shows McGregor and the woman stayed in the bathroom for about five minutes. After the encounter, she and McGregor hung out near each other in the club for several minutes "until parting ways at approximately 12:40 a.m.," according to the memo.

According to prosecutors, the friend told detectives that the alleged victim did not mention the purported assault on the way home or the next day. The friend did recall the alleged victim mentioning she would have considered hooking up with McGregor at the hotel but not in a club bathroom, the memo states.

Mitchell did not respond to New Times' request for comment following the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office decision not to pursue charges.

In a June interview, she said that her client was in shock in the aftermath of the incident and spent "the whole day crying."

"My client is a respectable career professional. She's not some young 'THOT,'" Mitchell told New Times. "She was just jarred by this experience."

In a series of June 12 letters sent to McGregor's agent, the Miami Heat, and the National Basketball Association, Mitchell demanded that their representatives contact her firm that same day or else face litigation over the assault. She said her firm would "explore all reasonable settlement offers to resolve these claims before they escalate further" — ending with the salutation "Namaste."

To date, court records show no lawsuit against McGregor over the incident.