One of the three Argentinian judges overseeing the trial of seven health professionals accused of negligence in Diego Armando Maradona's death has withdrawn from the proceedings amid controversy over her involvement in a documentary series about the case.
Julieta Makintach stepped down after footage emerged of the Divine Justice TV series that spans the first moments after the football superstar died in 2020 to the start of the trial more than two months ago, in which the judge appears as one of its lead characters.
Prosecutors played a trailer for the documentary in court on Tuesday, with prosecutor Patricio Ferrari accusing Makintach of behaving "like an actress and not a judge".
Makintach told the San Isidro court she had "no choice" but to recuse herself. The trial — which began on 11 March — has been adjourned until Thursday. The court will decide whether the trial can proceed with a new judge or if it must instead be restarted.
Medical negligence trial to continue
Maradona — who led Argentina to the World Cup in 1986 — died of a heart attack on 25 November 2020 while undergoing home hospitalisation on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, days after having surgery on a brain blood clot. He was 60.
Seven members of his medical team are on trial following an investigation for allegedly failing to provide adequate care while Maradona was at home, and could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors allege his death could have been avoided and have described the care given to Maradona as "reckless, deficient and unprecedented".
In July, an eighth member of the medical team will face a separate trial by jury.
Earlier this month, the lawyer representing Leopoldo Luque, Maradona's primary doctor at the time of his death and one of the main defendants, had requested Makintach's removal from the trial, arguing that the judge had demonstrated a lack of impartiality.
Luque's lawyer, Julio Rivas, said he had been contacted by British broadcaster BBC requesting an interview because they were making a documentary about the trial.
Court rules in Argentina prohibit unauthorised filming.
Widely perceived as one of football's greatest players, Maradona inspired his compatriots with a rags-to-riches story that vaulted him from poverty in the hardscrabble outskirts of Buenos Aires to international reverence.
In Italy's southern city of Naples, he had endeared himself to the local fans of SSC Napoli, who venerate him as a saint to this day.
However, Maradona had publicly struggled with drug addiction, obesity and alcoholism for decades and reportedly came close to death in 2000 and 2004.
