Appeal to Overturn Acquittal of Friend, Workers Denied

A panel of judges in Liam Payne’s death investigation has denied an appeal to overturn the acquittal of the three people initially charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the singer’s death. In a March 12 ruling, obtained by Rolling Stone Thursday, a panel of judges maintained the original decision that cleared Payne’s friend Roger Nores and hotel workers Gilda Martin and Esteban Grassi in the case.

The prosecutor’s original appeal, filed on March 5, claimed that the judge’s decision was “flawed in its reasoning” and that some hard drives — from Payne’s computer, cell phones for Nores and his partner, and one from the CasaSur reception desk — and other information had not been reviewed as evidence before the final decision was made.

In its response, the court wrote that while the appeal was validly submitted, it “lacked the necessary merit to proceed” and did not provide sufficient reasoning to prove that the decision to acquit the three people was legally wrong.

“Rather than providing a specific and detailed critique of the Court’s reasoning, the appeal merely expresses disagreement with the evaluation of the collected evidence, repeatedly stating the need for further actions, which the Court had dismissed by noting that ‘Neither the parties suggested any relevant actions in this regard,’” read the ruling in Spanish, adding that the “mere disagreement” did not reach the level of needing further processing. (The prosecutor’s office shared information about their appeal on Thursday but did not mention its rejection.)

A panel of judges from Argentina’s Court of Appeals originally announced the dropped charges against Nores, Martin, and Grassi in mid-February. Ezequiel Pereyra and Braian Paiz — the two men accused of selling Payne drugs — will remain behind bars as they await trial.

The new court update comes about a month after Rolling Stone published an extensive investigation into the tragedy of Payne, including a statement from his ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, breaking her silence on his death. Payne died in mid-October after falling from the third-floor balcony of the CasaSur Palermo hotel.