‘God’s judge’: The scandal that could overturn the trial for Diego Maradona’s death

The death of Diego Armando Maradona on November 25, 2020, devastated Argentines in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The soccer star had just turned 60 and was recovering from surgery in a rented house on the outskirts of Buenos Aires when he suffered a life-ending cardiac arrest. “Could his death have been prevented at that moment?” many asked, and those initial questions about the medical staff who treated him in his final days turned into a criminal case for alleged homicide. On March 11, the seven defendants appeared in the dock for the first time. Almost three months later, the trial of the year in Argentina hangs in the balance. This Tuesday, the courts will decide whether to annul the proceedings or continue without Judge Julieta Makintach, the protagonist of an unprecedented scandal.

Makintach, one of the three members of the court trying the alleged homicide of the Argentine soccer star, was recorded in the courtroom on the first day of the trial, despite the prohibition on any recording outside of the court’s own cameras. Over the weekend, videos of her in her office, in the elevator, and in the hallways were also released. The footage was destined to be part of a supposed documentary centered on her, which has now backfired and placed the entire trial under threat.

The trial over the alleged “simple homicide with eventual intent” against four doctors, two nurses, and a psychologist who treated Maradona in the days leading up to his death has been on hold for a week due to suspicions surrounding Makintach. The release of the videos that allegedly incriminate her is the final blow. The case lawyers announced Monday that they will again request Makintach’s recusal and have strongly criticized the judiciary. In parallel, a criminal case is being prepared against the judge.

One of the most vocal has been Fernando Burlando, the legal representative of Maradona’s daughters with Claudia Vilafañe, Dalma and Gianinna. “We have been evaluating what happens with the judge [Makintach] for 10 days, not what happened to Diego Armando Maradona’s killers. This is an oral trial that concludes with a simple homicide charge against the entire medical team that treated Diego. This is not a minor incident, and we already saw mistreatment when he was being treated, and now we see mistreatment by the justice system toward him and his entire family,” Burlando said Monday in statements to local media. The scandal has become known as “God’s Judge,” the supposed title of the documentary.

In the videos, Makintach looks at the camera and asks, laughing, “What else do you want me to do?” In another, the cameraman asks her to fix her hair and introduce herself. In another scene, she describes her nerves at the start of such a high-profile trial as she is about to enter the courtroom.

“We have information that tomorrow the three judges will sit before the court as if nothing had happened. We sometimes tell politicians that they lack self-criticism, but the judiciary also lacks it,” Burlando said. What happened with Makintach “has the world talking about the Argentine justice system as the worst example of all.”

The trial began on March 11 at Court No. 3 in San Isidro, on the northern outskirts of Buenos Aires. Since then, 19 hearings have been held, and 44 witnesses have testified. However, due to the scandal, judicial experts warn that everything points to the case being declared void and returning to square one.

In that case, new judges will have to be assigned and the hearings rescheduled based on court availability. The new date would be postponed until at least the first quarter of 2026.

Maradona’s family is reluctant to halt the trial and will try to keep it going. “Claudia Villafañe is angriest. She didn’t want to contemplate the trial being suspended and wanted this matter to end. She saw her daughters crying; revictimization is a reality, and clearly no one pays for this,” Burlando warned. The lawyer outlined his strategy: “We can carry out a very express process and agree to continue the trial quickly, without the parties and the victims suffering such a blow.”

The trial can only continue without Makintach if there is unanimity among all parties involved, an unlikely scenario. If so, Maradona’s family will try to have at least the statements of his daughters and his ex-partner, Verónica Ojeda, accepted as factual. The question of whether the medical team was responsible for the death of the Argentine soccer idol would remain, for now, unresolved.

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