Oscar-winning screenwriter John Patrick Shanley will head into 2014 with a clean slate after a sex lawsuit filed against him by a former lover was dismissed.

Shanley, who penned Cher's 1987 film Moonstruck and directed Meryl Streep in the film adaptation of his own Pulitzer Prize-winning play Doubt, was slapped with legal action in 2012 by actress Amanda Jencsik, who accused him of forcing her to engage in violent sex acts during four dates two years prior (10).

The 27-year-old plaintiff claimed he nearly choked her to death, but Shanley, 63, asked to have the $5 million (£3.3 million) suit thrown out of a New York court as Jencsik willingly returned for numerous sexual encounters, all of which included sadomasochism.

His wish was granted on Friday (27Dec13) as Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Paul Wooten ruled in his favour.