An Argentine courtroom on Thursday declared a mistrial within the case of seven well being professionals accused of negligence within the dying of soccer legend Diego Maradona, the physical games dramatic twist in a trial that has captivated the nation and the soccer world for greater than two months.
The judges dominated there can be a brand new trial, with out specifying when.
The whiplash choice comes after one of many three judges overseeing the trial stepped down over criticism surrounding her participation in a forthcoming documentary concerning the case, Divine Justice, which spans the aftermath of Maradona’s dying to the beginning of the trial.
A one-and-a-half-minute trailer intercuts archival footage of Maradona scoring targets with photographs of the decide, Julieta Makintach, strolling by means of the courtroom. Presenting the teaser in courtroom, the prosecutor requested judges to research Makintach’s alleged position in permitting the documentary to be filmed in the course of the trial.
Because the documentary snowballed right into a nationwide scandal, Makintach on Tuesday mentioned that she had “no alternative” however to resign from the case.
In consequence, the judges selected Thursday to restart the complete case, successfully turning the clock again on all proceedings since March 11, when the trial started amid intense media scrutiny and known as dozens of distraught witnesses to testify over the course of the next weeks.
“That is all an important embarrassment,” protection lawyer Miguel Angel Pierri informed media exterior the courthouse.
Thursday’s choice threw into doubt the timeline of the trial, which was initially anticipated to final till July. The panel mentioned {that a} increased courtroom would choose the three new judges by lottery.
The case accuses Maradona’s medical workforce of failing to supply satisfactory look after the soccer star in weeks main as much as November 25, 2020, when, on the age of 60, Maradona died from cardiac arrest whereas recovering from surgical procedure for a blood clot on the mind.
The defendants within the case embody Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s major doctor on the time of his dying, in addition to his psychologist, psychiatrist, medical coordinator and nurses.
All of them deny the fees and say Maradona was a tough affected person who didn’t permit himself to be handled.
Maradona, who famously received the World Cup with Argentina in 1986, is thought to be one of many best soccer gamers of all time. At house, his fellow Argentines revere him as a nationwide hero.
Info from The Related Press and Reuters was used on this report.