After dragging for more than two months and listened to 40 witnesses, the trial in Argentina to determine whether the death of star Diego Maradona was a murder was annulled on Thursday (29). The reason was the scandal that led to the departure of a judge who allegedly starred in an unauthorized documentary about the process.
“After hearing all the parties, we announced the court’s resolution, which is the nullity of the trial,” said Maximilian magistrate Savarino, one of the three responsible for the case in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, where the trial was taking place.
With this decision, the 20 hearings held since March 11, with the presentation of evidence and testimonies of daughters and other family members of Maradona, will no longer be valid.
The scandal began with allegations that Judge Julieta Makintach was playing a documentary about the case investigating the responsibility of the health team in the death of the Argentine idol, and filming in the audience room are prohibited.
Earlier this week, videos were released that would be part of the work, called “Justice of God,” in which the judge appears entering a court elevator, circulating through the corridors and during an audience.
Makintach has always denied being aware of a documentary, despite the testimony in court of a cameraman saying he had received money from a producer responsible for filming.
On Tuesday (27), she asked to be withdrawn from the case, and the Oral Criminal Court number three of San Isidro was with two members, Savarino and Verónica Di Tomimaso.
“The trial was well developed by all of us except for a person who has been set aside,” Savarino said now as he announced the decision. “Makintach did not intervene impartially. His conduct caused damage to the accusing parties, as well as defenses.”
Already Di Tomimaso made a reference to one of Maradona’s most remembered phrases, in which he recognized having made mistakes, but that “La Pelota [a bola de futebol] in the spot. “” There was a person who made a mistake and paid, and is paying and will certainly continue to explain, but it is not justice, justice does not stain, “she said.
The trial that had occurred for more than two months involved four doctors, two nurses and a psychologist who took care of Maradona before his death in 2020.
The Court complied with a request from the Public Prosecution Service, which asked for the appointment of three new judges. Defendants’ lawyers wanted the same, arguing that Makintach’s bias was clear and that the episode compromised the entire judgment, the annulment was necessary.
The lawyers representing the daughters of Maradona asked for a partial annulment, but with the maintenance of testimonies that have already been given and evidence presented. The lawyers had to comfort the daughters of the star when the judge announced the annulment of the trial.
Now the case will return to the test phase of the tests. The new trial has no start date, as it depends on the appointment of a new court, which will be done by lot.
Diego Maradona was 60 years old when he died on November 25, 2020, in precarious conditions in a rented house in a condominium in San Andrés, north of Buenos Aires.
He had been operated 22 days before a subdural bleeding – blood clummeal that forms between the brain and the skull – at the Olivos Clinic in Vicente López.
Prosecutors Ferrari, Cosme Iribarren and Laura Capra established that the medical team was “disabled”, “reckless” and “indifferent” in their actions, because “did nothing” to avoid their death.
