Maradona's trial halted over possible mix-up of medical tests

The trial about the death of Argentine football star Diego Maradona was stopped on Thursday. This happened after claims that kidney tests shown in court actually belonged to Maradona’s father.

Seven health workers are facing charges of criminal negligence over how they treated Maradona before he died at age 60 in November 2020. This was while he was recovering from surgery.

The first trial was thrown out last year after two and a half months of hearings. This was because it came out that one of the judges was involved in a secret documentary about the case.

A new trial started in April. It was getting close to finishing when it got messy again.

The defense says that the kidney tests presented in court were from Maradona’s father, who also had the name Diego and passed away in 2015. They claim these tests do not belong to the football legend known for winning the 1986 World Cup.

The court has put the hearings on hold until August 27. They want to take a closer look at the evidence.

Maradona died from heart failure and acute pulmonary edema. This means he had fluid in his lungs. He passed away in a rented home in the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre just two weeks after having surgery for a brain clot.

His medical team is being accused of not giving him proper care before his death, but they deny this.

On Tuesday, a kidney doctor told the court that the state of Maradona’s kidneys should have raised alarms for his doctors. He said the famous footballer, who had a history of cocaine use, should have received “daily medical checkups, daily nursing care, blood tests and monitoring of his vital signs.”

The prosecution insists that the alleged mix-up with the tests does not hurt their case. “They (the defense) will not succeed in bringing down the trial,” prosecutor Patricio Ferrari said on Thursday.

A lawyer for one of the accused, nurse Nancy Forlini, said they do not plan to ask for a mistrial. “I want this case to end so that my client knows her judicial fate,” he said.

If it turns out that the kidney test results were from Maradona’s father, it could make the medical commission look bad. This commission was set up to look into the details of Maradona’s death. The kidney doctor who testified on Tuesday is a member of this commission, which has been very critical of the care Maradona received.