Liam Payne’s friend, Argentine businessman Rogelio "Roger" Nores, has been permanently cleared of all criminal liability in the singer’s death.
A three-judge panel at the Buenos Aires Criminal Court of Cassation signed the ruling on June 9, dismissing the drug supply charge against Nores and finding he bore no responsibility for the One Direction star’s drug use. Prosecutors did not appeal, making the clearance final, per the New York Post.
The court's reasoning was direct: Payne was an adult free to make his own choices, and Nores could not be held criminally accountable for those choices.
Central to the drug supply charge was a message found on Payne's phone in which the singer asked Nores for "six grams." Nores never replied to the message, and the court found no evidence that he agreed to supply anything.
Nores' defense attorney, Rafael Cúneo Libarona, told the New York Post the outcome was unambiguous.
"There is no chance that Nores will be brought back into the case," he said. "The court was clear in its ruling that cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing."
Libarona added, "Roger never had the duty of caring for Payne, much less caring for his addictions. He was not Liam's guarantor. He was his friend, not his physician, nurse, or therapist."
The ruling caps a nearly two-year legal ordeal for Nores. Payne died on Oct. 16, 2024, when he fell from a balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, and Nores was indicted on a manslaughter charge in November 2024.
That charge was dropped in February 2025. A separate drug supply charge was added in June 2025 and thrown out in April 2026 before the appeals court confirmed the dismissal in June.
Payne's autopsy listed the cause of death as multiple trauma and internal and external hemorrhage. Toxicology found alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his system, and medical reports suggested he may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness.
Two defendants remain in the case: restaurant waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz, 26, and hotel worker Ezequiel David Pereyra, 22, both accused of selling cocaine to Payne. The pair served more than a year in police precincts and federal prison before being released in March 2026.
On July 3, Judge Karina Andrade authorized prosecutors to conduct further forensic analysis on 10 cellphones and a flash drive belonging to Paiz and Pereyra, probing texts, social media, and browsing histories.
Two other employees of the CasaSur Palermo hotel where Payne died—security head Gilda Martin and receptionist Esteban Grassi—previously had manslaughter charges against them get dropped in the case.
