Appeals court orders new trial for former welterweight boxing champion 

 

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) -- Ricardo Mayorga will be retried on rape charges after an appeals court on Monday overturned an earlier decision that cleared the former welterweight champion.

The spokeswoman for the Appeals Court of Managua, Ruth Tapia, told The Associated Press that the original decision was voided because ``the process wasn't correct.''

Arbel Medina, an attorney for Mayorga's accuser, had argued that the judge that heard the case was biased against his client.

The appeals court ordered a new trial that Tapia said would be conducted before a different judge. No date was immediately set.

Medina applauded Monday's decision, saying the December trial was unfair.

In December, Judge Julio Cesar Areas cleared Mayorga after a 17-hour hearing.

An unidentified, 22-year-old woman accused Mayorga of rape her at a Managua hotel in September. Mayorga acknowledged having sex with the woman, but said it was consensual.

The boxer's attorney, Sergio Morales, said the woman brought the complaint for financial gain.

Mayorga was arraigned shortly before his Oct. 2 loss to Felix Trinidad in a middleweight bout in New York.

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