A new criminal trial over the death of Argentine soccer icon Diego Maradona will open on Tuesday, with seven health professionals accused of negligent homicide appearing before a court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires.
Maradona, the captain of Argentina's 1986 World Cup-winning team, died on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60. He suffered a heart attack while recuperating at home following brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
Who is on trial
The defendants set to be tried together are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. A separate jury trial will be held for an eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, for which no date has yet been set.
The charges against the seven professionals allege negligence that prosecutors say contributed to Maradona's death. The accused have denied any wrongdoing.
Scope of evidence and witnesses
The San Isidro court is expected to call just under 100 witnesses as it examines the conduct of the medical team. Evidence that surfaced during the earlier trial - including photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic material - will be available to both sides in the retrial. Many individuals who testified previously, including Maradona's children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, may be called again.
The initial trial, which began last March, was halted two months in after a mistrial was declared. One of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video footage emerged showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in courthouse corridors and inside her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
Prosecutors' and defence positions
Prosecutors in the earlier proceeding argued that the medical professionals failed to follow appropriate treatment protocols and that the house where Maradona was recovering had become a "theatre of horror" where necessary care was not provided. The defence has maintained that Maradona's death was inevitable due to his long-standing health problems.
The case record notes that Maradona had decades-long struggles with cocaine and alcohol addiction. Those health issues form part of the defence argument that his condition made his death likely irrespective of any alleged medical negligence.
Origins of the negligence case
The negligence charges were brought following the appointment in 2021 of a medical review board by prosecutors. That panel concluded the medical team acted in an "inappropriate, deficient and reckless" manner when caring for Maradona.
If any of the defendants were convicted on the negligent homicide charges, they could face prison terms ranging from eight to 25 years under the statutes cited by prosecutors.
As the retrial begins, both prosecutors and defence counsel must reassess their legal strategies in light of the extensive evidence already presented publicly during the first trial. The new proceeding will revisit testimony and material that have already played a central role in determining how the case is framed for the jury in San Isidro.