One of the three judges presiding over the homicide case involving the late Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona has reportedly recused herself after it was discovered she had covertly participated in a documentary about the ongoing trial.
The judge in question, Julieta Makintach, recused herself earlier this week after prosecutors revealed that she played a leading role in the forthcoming documentary, thus compromising her ability to be impartial throughout the trial.
Maradona died in 2020 while recovering from brain surgery, and his seven-person medical team is on trial over allegations that conditions in his home, where he was recovering, were “grossly negligent.”
At a hearing earlier this week, prosecutors showed evidence of Makintach’s central involvement in the documentary. Per The Guardian, the prosecution revealed a 1-minute-50-second trailer that showed “several angles” of the judge arriving at the courthouse, as well as footage filmed inside the courtroom, where filming is technically not allowed, with Makintach in the center of the frame.
Makintach denies any wrongdoing and claims that she simply gave an “informal interview” to the documentary crew.
However, other evidence shows that Makintach was certainly a key figure in the show. The trailer reportedly shows captions including, “Five years later: a death, an idol, a judge, a trial,” and, “The judge behind D10S,” a wordplay on Maradona’s jersey number and the Spanish word for God, which is Dios.
During the hearing, the public prosecutor accused Makintach of behaving “like an actress and not a judge.”
It is unclear whether the two remaining judges will carry on with the case themselves, add a new third member, or simply declare a mistrial and start the entire proceedings over again.