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, which began on March 11, 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, Maximiliano Savarino, annulled the trial on Thursday, saying Makintach’s behavior 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 said outside the court on Thursday.
Ex-partner Veronica Ojeda described the events as “outrageous”.
But she added: “if I have to do it [testify] a thousand times more, I will.”
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 was found to have died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema – a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs – two weeks after going under the knife.
His seven-strong medical team is on trial over the conditions of his home convalescence, described by prosecutors as grossly negligent.
No date has been set for the new trial, but the prosecution has said it hopes for a restart this year. (AFP)