Maradona Trial: Prosecutors Seek Up to 12 Years Prison for Accused Doctors
Prosecutors sought sentences of between four and 12 years for six healthcare professionals tried for the death of Diego Maradona in 2020.
Prosecutors Accuse Doctors of "Abandonment" in Days Before Maradona's Death
According to latimes.com, the Argentine prosecution requested on Thursday sentences of between four and twelve years in prison against six healthcare professionals tried for the death of Diego Maradona, which occurred on 25 November 2020. The arguments were presented in court in San Isidro, a locality in Buenos Aires Province.
"They performed actions contrary to the act of healing and placed Maradona in a situation of abandonment, leaving him to his own devices," said prosecutor Patricio Ferrari in opening his arguments, which lasted more than four hours.
Sentences Requested per Accused
The highest sentence—12 years in prison and a ten-year ban from practising medicine—fell on neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, Maradona's personal doctor during the last year of his life. The prosecution accuses him of simple homicide with eventual intent, a charge applied when the perpetrator knows the risk of their conduct yet persists in it.
For the same crime, prosecutors sought ten years in prison for Nancy Edith Forlin, home care coordinator for the private medical company involved, and eight years for psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov. Both would be barred from practising for a decade as well in the event of conviction.
For psychologist Carlos Díaz, five years in prison were sought; four years for nurse Ricardo Almirón and for head nurse Mariano Perroni. The three are accused of negligent homicide through carelessness and would also face professional disqualification equivalent to twice the length of their sentence.
Clinical physician Pedro Di Spagna was the only one for whom the prosecution sought acquittal. "He did not have the power or decision to direct the patient's medical care," Ferrari explained. The requested sentences fall below the maximum of 25 years provided for under Argentine penal code for this type of crime.
Deficient Home Internment as Focus of Accusation
The football star died of a heart attack whilst undergoing home internment at a rented house on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, where he was attempting to recover from surgery to remove a subdural haematoma performed two weeks earlier. He was 60 years old.
The prosecution based much of its argument on the conditions of that internment. Prosecutors listed that the residence lacked an orthopaedic bed, first aid kit and defibrillator, and that no ambulance was available on a permanent basis.
"We are in a position to affirm that there existed a group of improvised individuals who forgot at all times that they were treating a vulnerable and complex patient," Ferrari emphasised.
His colleague Cosme Iribarren stressed that Maradona was not an ordinary patient: he had a cardiovascular history, hypertension, kidney problems, anaemia and problematic consumption of alcohol and drugs. "It required an integral and holistic view," he stated.
Regarding Luque specifically, prosecutors said he "did everything possible to make things go wrong" and that he ignored visible signs of cardiac insufficiency—including notable abdominal swelling—in the days before his death.
"The image of Maradona's body for myself and my colleague will be unforgettable," revealed Iribarren. "The shocking nature of that image has a single explanation: the conditions that Maradona had in the month of November 2020 and which went untreated."
Possible Verdict Before Year End
The court, made up of three judges, could deliver a verdict before the year concludes. The trial began in mid-April; throughout the hearings, the defence lawyers argued that the former footballer suffered from a complex clinical picture and that no crime occurred whatsoever.
The prosecution clarified that, in the event of conviction, it will not seek the immediate detention of the accused until the sentence becomes final, though it did request that the ban on leaving the country be maintained for all of them.
Next week will be the turn of arguments from the lawyers representing Maradona's five children. Lawyer Fernando Burlando, who defends the interests of Dalma and Gianinna—both present in the courtroom on Thursday—anticipated that he would seek sentences higher than those requested by the prosecution. "The prosecutors' presentation was brilliant. We are thinking of requesting some additional years," Burlando told journalists.
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires