Maradona trial defense seeks acquittal for addiction specialist

The trial concerning the death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona entered its concluding stage on Tuesday in San Isidro. Defense attorneys presented closing arguments seeking the acquittal of psychologist Carlos Diaz and psychiatrist Agostina Cosachov. Their legal representatives asserted that neither professional had any connection to the death, lacked the capacity to prevent it, or were not fully informed of the relevant facts.

Diaz's role under scrutiny

Carlos Diaz occupies a unique position among the seven defendants in the proceedings, which have been ongoing since April. The medical team overseeing Maradona faces charges of negligence leading to his death. The former player died in November 2020 during home recovery following neurosurgery described as simple.

Diaz, aged 34, joined the care team during Maradona’s final month to assist with quitting alcohol and psychotropic drugs. While prosecutors and civil parties requested prison sentences for six of the seven accused, the case against Diaz revealed significant ambiguity regarding responsibility during the athlete's last days.

Prosecutors sought a five-year sentence for Diaz, a demand supported by two other entities. Conversely, a lawyer representing one of Maradona’s children called for a 12-year term, while two other parties argued for full acquittal.

Defense highlights contradictory narratives

Luciano Zorria, Diaz’s attorney, opened the defense arguments by noting the inability of accusers to agree on the nature of the charge or the basis for holding Diaz responsible. "This is a pivotal point in this trial," Zorria stated. He added that various parties provided conflicting accounts of his client's role, emphasizing that uncertainty creates doubt, and where there is doubt, there must be acquittal.

Diego Olmedo, another lawyer for Diaz, clarified that his client is a psychologist, not a physician, nurse, or radiologist. Olmedo noted that Diaz was hired specifically to prevent alcohol or drug consumption, pointing out that toxicology tests conducted after the death showed no such substances in Maradona’s blood.

Olmedo argued that the death resulted from medical issues beyond Diaz’s scope. "By virtue of his specialty and role, he had no possibility whatsoever to prevent the death," he said.

Cosachov's limited access to data

Agostina Cosachov, a 41-year-old psychiatrist, also faced an eight-year prison request from prosecutors. Her defense attorney, Vadim Mishanchuk, stressed that her professional boundaries were clear from the outset, stating she identified herself as Maradona’s psychiatrist with a role limited to supervising medication related to that discipline.

Mishanchuk directed sharp criticism toward Swiss Medical, the private healthcare company whose representative, Nancy Forlini, served as the medical coordinator for Maradona’s recovery. Forlini, also a defendant, faces a ten-year sentence request.

The defense argued that Cosachov did not act impulsively but was obsessively precise in monitoring the patient according to the medical file. However, she allegedly received incomplete information or was excluded from communication groups between the company and nurses.

"No one informed her of tachycardia episodes or high blood pressure; no one told her anything," Mishanchuk claimed. He stated she gathered only accessible information and acted on bad news when she learned of it, placing blame on Swiss Medical for operating arbitrarily. He described the flow of medical data from the recovery site as resembling a "Bermuda triangle."

Maradona was found dead at age 60 in his bed at a rented house in Tigre, north of Buenos Aires. The cause was cardiorespiratory arrest accompanied by pulmonary edema. Defense arguments are expected to continue until Thursday, with the verdict scheduled for a later date.