BUENOS AIRES, June 25 — The Argentine judge who caused the collapse of a trial over the 2020 death of football legend Diego Maradona resigned on Tuesday.
Julieta Makintach’s involvement in a clandestine documentary about the trial of Maradona’s medical team led to the proceedings being scrapped in May after two months of hearings.
Her fellow judges accused her of having “caused prejudice” to the proceedings which heard hours of painful, sometimes tearful, testimony from witnesses including Maradona’s children.
No date has yet been set for a new trial although a new three-judge bench has been designated to hear the case.
In a letter to the governor of Buenos Aires, which was seen by AFP, Makintach, who had been facing impeachment proceedings, said she “regretted…the profound institutional and social impact” of her actions on a “very sensitive” trial.
She said she believed her resignation would help restore confidence in the judiciary.
Maradona, considered one of the world’s greatest ever players, died in November 2020 at the age of 60 while recovering from brain surgery.
He died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema — a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs — two weeks after going under the knife.
Seven medical professionals were put on trial over the conditions of his home convalescence, which prosecutors described as grossly negligent.
Maradona’s caregivers risk prison terms of between eight and 25 years if convicted of “homicide with possible intent” — pursuing a course of action despite knowing it could lead to his death. — AFP
