Liam Payne did not “lose his balance” before falling from the hotel balcony, he was trying to escape the building while high on drugs, according to the judge handling his death investigation. In a ruling obtained Monday by Rolling StoneJudge Laura Bruniard shared new information about what led to the One Direction singer's death and updated charges against five people questioned in the case.
Bruniard made charges of “manslaughter” against Payne's friend Roger Nores, CasaSur Palermo hotel manager Gilda Martin and front desk manager Esteban Grassi for their acts of “imprudence and negligence” that led to the death of Payne. Nores' charges were significantly reduced, after he originally faced 5 to 15 years behind bars for “abandonment followed by death.”
“I don't think so [Nores, Martin e Grassi] planned and wanted Payne's death. They did not plan for the outcome but created a legally frowned upon risk,” the judge wrote.
If convicted, two other people – Ezequiel Pereyra and Braian Paiz – face between four and 15 years in prison for allegedly selling cocaine to the singer, and preventive detention has been ordered for the alleged crime.
The manslaughter charges against hotel employees Martin and Grassi came after examining evidence that “clearly” captured Payne being “dragged” into his hotel room on Oct. 16 while on an alleged “ vulnerable state,” with the judge arguing that taking him to his room with that level of intoxication “created a legally frowned upon risk to his life.” Payne died from multiple traumas and internal bleeding after the fall, according to a post-autopsy report.
“Payne's state of consciousness was altered and there was a balcony in the room. The right thing to do was to leave him in a safe place and not alone, until a doctor arrived,” the judge wrote in his ruling, adding that the two hotel employees “did not act maliciously” but were were “imprudent” in their behavior. (Martin allegedly instructed Grassi and the other employees to take Payne to his room.)
Despite an earlier prosecutor's claim that the One Direction singer had fainted on the hotel balcony and fallen, the judge said Payne – in a severely impaired state – was “trying to leave his room via the balcony.” before his fall.
“I think that [Payne] tried to move away from the balcony where he was left because forensic experts noticed that he did not lose his balance. This is how the fall occurred,” the judge wrote.
As for Payne's friend, the judge said Nores, who now faces manslaughter charges, had taken the “guarantor position” towards Payne's family and was the musician's main point of contact at the hotel. The judge wrote that, based on the autopsy results, Payne's “vulnerable state was evident” when Nores left CasaSur Palermo 50 minutes before the fall.
“He should have consulted a doctor given the commitment he made to the deceased's family,” the judge wrote. “He should have done so without trusting how the hotel employees might behave [con Payne].”
According to the investigation, the new manslaughter charges followed reviews of interviews and video footage surrounding Payne's death that confirmed Payne's high level of addiction and the “presence of cocaine and alcohol in large quantities” in his system at moment of his death. (Nores said in a paper reviewed by Rolling Stone earlier this month that Payne came “close to death” due to his struggle with substance abuse multiple times over the past two years.)
Two other people accused of drug dealing – Pereyra and Paiz – will face preventive prison. Payne allegedly paid Pereyra $100 for the drugs, according to the judge, and later sent a car to his home to have more cocaine sent to him. As for Paiz, despite his claims that the two used drugs together but wasn't paid for it, the judge ruled that Payne “asked for money at the front desk” while Paiz was in the room.
In a statement to Rolling StonePaiz's lawyer, Fernando Madeo Facente, criticized the prosecution and described the judge's decision to send Paiz to preventive prison as “completely arbitrary and illegitimate.”
“This resolution does nothing more than demonstrate that this is a 'witch hunt,'” Facente wrote. “[Stanno] looking for the guilty and accusing innocent people of committing crimes.”
Both Pereyra and Paiz will have to serve preventive prison sentences while awaiting trial. “In this case, it has been proven to be [Paiz che Pereyra] they supplied cocaine to Liam Payne in exchange for money,” Bruniard said.
Nores declined to comment to Rolling Stone. Grassi and representatives for Payne's family did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new update.
From Rolling Stone US
