Maradona death trial collapses amid judge’s documentary scandal
New trial to start in Argentina after one of the three judges withdrew from the high-profile case
After weeks of hearings and testimony from over 40 witnesses, an Argentine court on Thursday nullified the trial of late football legend Diego Maradona’s medical team due to a scandal over a TV miniseries.
A new trial will have to start from scratch, with three new judges, in a case already long delayed into Maradona’s death in 2020, allegedly due to medical negligence.
Judge Julieta Makintach was forced to step down from the case this week after it emerged she had been involved in a documentary miniseries about the case, potentially breaking a string of ethics rules.
Her colleague, Judge Maximiliano Savarino, annulled the trial on Thursday, saying Makintach’s behaviour had “caused prejudice” to proceedings that have already heard hours of painful, sometimes tearful, testimony from witnesses including Maradona’s children.
“I am not calm. I am angry. I hate them!” the footballer’s daughter Jana Maradona told reporters outside the court Thursday.