Scandalous scenes as Maradona death trial is thrown into disarray

Tuesday’s hearing from the trial into the death of Diego Maradona featured statements of defence, furious accusations, shouting and tears. It ended with a judge, at the heart of a scandal, removed from the case and all parties calling for the trial to restart from scratch with a new trio of magistrates.

The fate of the trial will be decided on Thursday, following a scandal involving one of the judges over her participation in a documentary about the case, produced without the knowledge of the parties involved.

Here are four key moments from this week’s trial – as cinematic as the life of the "El Diez” himself:

Defence statement

After clips from an alleged documentary featuring Judge Julieta Makintach were circulated over the weekend, the hearing began with a statement from the figure at the centre of the scandal.

“There is no irregularity, crime or cause for misconduct. What there may be is a major media operation to have me removed from this trial, but I am not going to recuse myself,” declared Makintach initially.

The other two judges on the panel, for their part, insisted they had “nothing to do with the filming” for the documentary.

Then it was the turn of prosecutor Pablo Ferrari, who demanded the judge be removed from the case. “This was a reality show, with constant overacting by Dr Makintach, who at all times acted as an actress, not a judge,” he said.

“When I say she acted as an actress, it’s because there was a written script – and we’re going to tell you about it now,” Ferrari announced, before revealing further details of the film.

Divine justice

Around midday, the prosecutor read out an alleged script from the proposed series, found during searches conducted last week at various private residences and production companies.

Justicia Divina was the title of the audiovisual project, which envisaged six 30-minute episodes.

“The miniseries follows Judge Julieta Makintach during and after the trial, as she reconstructs Maradona’s death and revisits painful milestones from her life related to abandonment,” Ferrari read aloud.

Up to that point, the judge had denied any connection between the audiovisual project and the ex-footballer’s trial. She maintained it was simply an interview she had given “to a childhood friend.”

The prosecutor then showed the parties, for the first time publicly, a trailer and preview of the prospective series that had been leaked online over the weekend.

Shouting and tears

The recorded footage featured scenes of the judge walking through the courthouse and speaking in her office, interspersed with images of Maradona and audio from the day he died, as well as a recap of key moments from the trial so far and its media impact.

Midway through the screening, lawyer Rodolfo Baqué – who had been removed from the proceedings at the second hearing and was present among the watching public – stood up and called Makintach “trash”.

Gianinna Maradona, one of the football legend’s daughters, tried to calm him down. Both she and Verónica Ojeda, another plaintiff and the mother of Maradona’s youngest son, broke down in uncontrollable tears for several minutes.

“I have nothing to do with this,” Makintach said, but the lawyers from all parties were visibly shocked by the volume of evidence and made that clear to her.

‘Utter disgrace’

“Unfit, a person unworthy of holding judicial office,” said one of the plaintiff’s lawyers in reference to Makintach.

“It’s tragic, shameful, I feel utter disgrace on her behalf,” added another.

While the remaining judges listened intently to the statements, Makintach looked down and held her head in her hands.

“The amount of evidence gathered by the prosecution is devastating,” said Fernando Burlando, lawyer for Dalma and Gianinna Maradona.

“That a judge can lie, lie, and lie again without any regard for the consequences of her statements after what we’ve seen and heard in this courtroom is scandalous,” he added, while Makintach shook her head and bit her lip in denial.

All parties agreed to request her removal from the case. The judge eventually decided to step down voluntarily.

“I say it from the heart, for my children’s sake. I didn’t know about this material, I hadn’t seen the footage. I know you won’t believe me. I was unaware of it all, including the script,” she said.

At the end of the session, Burlando told journalists the situation provoked “fury and anger” both in him and his clients, and described the judge’s “narcissistic” behaviour as “inexplicable.”

The two judges remaining in post after Makintach’s resignation have scheduled a new hearing for Thursday at midday local time to announce their decision regarding the future of the case.