Sawt Falasteen - 'He was my idol' says Maradona doctor at trial over icon's death

"I want to say that I am innocent and that I deeply regret his death," neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque said of Maradona's death at age 60, as he recovered at home from surgery for a brain clot.

"I adored him, he was my idol and my friend," he later told the court, his voice breaking with emotion.

Luque, 44, is on trial with six other medical professionals accused of gross negligence in Maradona's final days, leading to his death.

The larger-than-life footballer died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema -- a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs -- two weeks after going under the knife.

The first trial over his death was sensationally annulled last year after two-and-a-half months of hearings, following revelations that one of the judges took part in a clandestine documentary about the case.

The new trial in the northern Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro, near where Maradona died, began Tuesday with a new three-judge panel.

Prosecutor Patricio Ferrari accused Maradona's medical team at the start of the proceedings of being a "bunch of amateurs" who committed "all kinds of omissions" in caring for him.

On trial along with Luque are a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a medical coordinator, a nursing coordinator, a doctor and a night nurse.

The defendants argue that the hard-living Maradona, who battled cocaine and alcohol addictions, died of natural causes.

Each has minimized his or her role in the decisions taken about his care.

They risk prison terms of between eight and 25 years if convicted of homicide with possible intent -- pursuing a course of action despite knowing it could lead to death.

- 'That didn't happen' -

Maradona was found dead in bed by a day nurse.

Forensic experts said he was likely in agony for 12 hours before he died.

"I am completely sure that didn't happen," Luque said, questioning several aspects of the autopsy performed on the man revered in Argentina as "D10s" -- a play on his number 10 jersey and "dios," the Spanish word for God.

Luque said he was devoted to his patient.

"He would call me at any hour and I would go," he said.

One of the questions at the heart of trial is whether the decision to allow Maradona to convalesce at home instead of a medical facility endangered his life.

The prosecution on Thursday played a series of WhatsApp audio messages between Luque and Maximiliano Pomargo, who served as Maradona's private secretary.

The messages suggested that Luque manipulated Maradona's daughters in order to win their backing for the 1986 World Cup star to be cared for at his home in the northern Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre.

G.AbuOdeh--SF-PST