Argentina court scraps Maradona medical team trial amid ethics concerns, orders new hearing
Synopsis
An Argentine court annulled the trial of Diego Maradona’s medical team due to a judge’s ethical breach and ordered a new trial with a different panel.
An Argentine court on Thursday nullified the trial of late football legend Diego Maradona's medical team and ordered a new one, after a judge stepped down over her role in a documentary about the case.
Judge Maximiliano Savarino said the conduct of his colleague Julieta Makintach had "caused prejudice" to the proceedings, which started in March and had already heard more than 40 witnesses.
A new trial will be held with a different panel of judges.
Makintach, one of three judges in the now-annulled trial, recused herself on Tuesday after it emerged she had been interviewed for a miniseries about the case, potentially breaking a string of ethics rules.
The prosecution, the complainants and most of the defense lawyers asked for a new panel of judges to be appointed and the trial, which they consider tainted, restarted.
Maradona died in 2020 aged 60 while recovering from brain surgery.
His seven-person medical team is on trial over the conditions of his home convalescence after major surgery, described by prosecutors as grossly negligent.