Closing arguments begin as Maradona death trial enters final weeks

Prosecutors began presenting their closing arguments Thursday at the trial over the death of late football icon Diego Maradona, arguing that he was abandoned to his fate by a “chaotic” and improvised medical team.

Addressing the court, the prosecution said they would seek prison terms of between four and 12 years in jail for those in the dock.

Seven medical professionals have been on trial since April over Maradona’s death on November 25, 2020 while convalescing after surgery for a brain clot.

The star of the 1986 World Cup died of heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema – a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs – at a rented home in the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre two weeks after undergoing successful surgery for a brain clot.

The larger-than-life star, who had a history of substance abuse, was 60 at the time of his death.

His medical team, including his personal doctor and neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, psychologist Carlos Díaz and nursing staff, are accused of providing grossly inadequate care in the lead-up to his death. 

They deny the charges.

‘Chaotic organisation’

In his closing arguments, prosecutor Patricio Ferrari said the defendants’ “chaotic organisation” left the ailing player “in a helpless situation, abandoning him to his fate.”

“There was a group of improvisers who forgot at all times that they were treating a vulnerable and complex patient,” Ferrari said.

He accused the medical team of having “breached their duties, performed actions contrary to the art of healing” and “omitted all the acts they were required to perform.”

The defendants are charged with homicide with “dolo eventual” (malice aforethought) – a legal term meaning that a person is aware that their actions or omissions could cause death but persists nonetheless.

They could face between eight and 25 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said Thursday they will seek between four and 12 years in jail for six of the accused.

The health workers have argued that Maradona’s death couldn’t have been foreseen and that they did their jobs.

Each defendant has also downplayed their own individual responsibility for his care.

‘Pitiful’

The case has revolved around whether the doctors’ decision to allow Maradona convalesce in a private home, instead of in a hospital, was negligent.

Ferrari described the home-care arrangements as “pitiful,” alleging that the bedroom where Maradona was being treated had no defibrillator, resuscitation bag or other basic emergency equipment, while there was no ambulance stationed outside the property.

He said the two layers of medical care overseeing Maradona – one involving Luque, Cosachov and Díaz and another provided by Swiss Medical – had both failed.

Several medical experts testified that Maradona’s carers failed to react to key warning signs – he was suffering from oedema, tachycardia and had difficulty breathing – in the lead-up to his death.

After months of hearings and more than 100 testimonies from witnesses and defendants, Ferrari said, “the historical core of the indictment has remained intact.”

“Diego Armando Maradona’s death clearly did not come out of nowhere: the signs of this fatal outcome began to appear long beforehand,” assistant prosecutor Cosme Iribarren summarised on Thursday.

“The death was avoidable and the medical care was inadequate,” said Iribarren.

“It is the chronology of an announced death that we have before us,” the prosecutor added.

The prosecution and plaintiff lawyers maintain that Maradona suffered for around 12 hours in agony before dying from acute pulmonary oedema, linked to aggravated congestive heart failure and dilated cardiomyopathy.

The defence argues that he suffered an acute, sudden and unforeseeable cardiac event.

Shocking images

The prosecution again showed the court shock images of the former footballer lying dead in bed, his stomach grotesquely swollen.

Maradona’s three daughters, who were present in court on Thursday for the start of the summation, covered their faces to avoid seeing the images.

The summation is expected to last around two weeks. The verdict is expected at a later date.

The first trial over Maradona’s death was dramatically annulled last year after two-and-a-half months of hearings, following revelations that one of the judges had taken part in a clandestine documentary about the case.

– TIMES/AFP/N