Judge Julieta Makintach faced the fourth hearing of her impeachment jury over the scandal in the trial for Diego Maradona's death. She broke down emotionally during her friend María Lía Vidal's testimony, amid cross-accusations with colleague Maximiliano Savarino. The magistrate reiterated her innocence and denounced false testimony.
In the fourth hearing of the impeachment jury against Judge Julieta Makintach, held at the Annex of the Buenos Aires Senate, the room experienced high tension, complicit laughs, and warnings from the jury. Makintach, former head of the TOC No. 2 in San Isidro, broke down while her friend María Lía “La Negra” Vidal testified, identified as the scriptwriter of the documentary “Justicia Divina” linked to the failed trial over Diego Maradona's death.
The magistrate, accused of irregularly annulling the debate by allowing unauthorized filming, reiterated her innocence and expressed trust in institutions. “I want the truth to be known,” she told Agencia Noticias Argentinas. “I believe in institutions” and “I trust the Impeachment Jury,” she stated during her Tuesday declaration.
Makintach filed a criminal complaint against colleague Maximiliano Savarino for “aggravated false testimony,” claiming he lied by denying knowledge of a filming team in the courtroom. According to her, she had informed him via WhatsApp group along with Judge Verónica Di Tomasso. Savarino, in turn, accused her of “setting up a documentary with a friend” and deceiving them: “If I had had proper support, the case would have ended and we would have a verdict.” He denied knowing about the “hidden filming whose exclusive responsibility falls on Dr. Julieta Makintach” and called her a “liar”.
Makintach's defender, Darío Saldaño, attempted to introduce WhatsApp chats as evidence, but the president of the Buenos Aires Supreme Court, Hilda Kogan, rejected it, stating that “all evidence was already incorporated at the appropriate time”.
Other testimonies complicated Makintach's position. The secretary of the TOC No. 3, Laura Soledad Minici, recounted that custody police officer Daniela Barrionuevo warned about unaccredited individuals linked to the judge who were recording without permission, despite the ban on filming except for the official Court transmission. Minici relayed the alert to Savarino and Di Tomasso, who initially authorized their presence. The trial over Maradona's death will resume next year.