Buonanotte charged with manslaughter
Reuters - Tuesday 14 September 2010, 19:29
BUENOS AIRES - River Plate midfielder
Diego Buonanotte, part of Argentina's 2008 Olympic gold
medal-winning squad, has been charged with manslaughter over a
car crash that killed three of his friends last December, a
provincial prosecutor said on Tuesday.
Buonanotte, 22, was driving during a storm when his car
overturned and crashed into a tree in his home province of Santa
Fe on December 26.
He suffered injuries to a shoulder and lungs, but his three
childhood friends were killed.
"Buonanotte is charged with triple manslaughter and
eventually this is likely to go to court to determine whether he
is guilty," Carlos Colimedaglia, a prosecutor in Junin, Buenos
Aires province, told Reuters.
"Speed and weather conditions at the time of the accident
made him lose control of the car," Colimedaglia said, adding
that Buonanotte had tested negative in an alcohol test.
Buonanotte has said he cannot remember how the accident
happened, but that he was driving at a prudent speed, daily La
Nacion reported. He testified for 40 minutes on Monday.
Buonanotte resumed playing in April, almost four months
after the fatal crash.
His legal assistant told a local radio station on Monday the
case against the player "lacked sufficient legal grounds."
"In all traffic accidents the prosecutor tries to determine
whether the actions of anyone involved have contributed to the
outcome," the assistant, Dario Del Ciervo, said.
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