The San Isidro court trying the medical team of late football legend Diego Maradona over his death suspended proceedings on Tuesday for a week after complaints about one of the judges hearing the case.
The court ordered the suspension at the request of the prosecution, after defence lawyers complained about the judge's alleged involvement in a documentary about the case.
Prosecutor Patricio Ferrari said the pause was ordered "to resolve an issue ...of institutional gravity."
The request for a suspension, which could even lead to the annulment of the trial, relates to the alleged use of cameras during the hearings.
The lawyers had earlier asked for the same judge, Julieta Makintach, to be recused from the two-month-old trial.
Makintach has been accused of helping at least two individuals and assisting them in the recording of documentary footage from the trial.
The judge – who has rejected allegations about her “impartiality” – responded after the suspension that "to file a complaint against a judge, you must have well-founded grounds" because "institutions are at risk."
Another of the three magistrates overseeing the case, Maximiliano Savarino, ordered that all defendants be present for the next hearing on May 27.
The trial "will continue on Tuesday, March 27, so that all parties can be heard. On that day, all the accused must be present," said a judicial source.
"The possibility of annulling the trial will also be analysed, something that does not seem likely to happen but is not totally ruled out. The judges have to see everything that is in the criminal complaint in progress, based on the evidence they will decide," said the source.
Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60, while recovering at home from brain surgery for a blood clot.
His seven-person medical team is on trial for what prosecutors have described as the “horror theatre” of his care in the final days of his life, at a private residence in the Greater Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre.
Maradona died of heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema – a condition in which fluid builds up in the lungs – just weeks after undergoing surgery.
Doctors at the Clínica Olivos performed successful neurosurgery on the former footballer two weeks before he died.
He had battled cocaine and alcohol addiction for decades before he passed.
Seven defendants risk prison terms between eight and 25 years if convicted of homicide with possible intent (dolo eventual) – pursuing a course of action despite knowing it could lead to death.
An eighth defendant, nurse Gisela Madrid, will be tried separately.
Prosecutors have described the football icon's care in his last days as grossly negligent.
– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL
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