CHARLOTTESVILLE,Va. — Defense attorneys for murder suspect George Huguely challenged a medical examiner’s finding that his girlfriend Yeardley Love was fatally beaten, saying drugs in her system and even attempts to revive her may have contributed to her death. Defense lawyer Francis McQ. Lawrence argued before a judge on Wednesday that Love’s skull and brain injuries were not serious enough to kill her. Virginia’s chief medical examiner ruled Love, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student, died from blunt force trauma to the head in July, two months after police found her bloodied body in the early morning hours of May 3 in her campus apartment. “We have serious issues as to the cause of death,” Lawrence said before Judge Robert H. Downer Jr. Wednesday morning. He petitioned the court for access to Love’s medical records dating back four to six years, to find out whether she was taking any prescription drugs or had any pre-existing conditions that could have contributed to her death.

Huguely, a 23-year-old U.Va. lacrosse player who graduated from Landon School in Bethesda, has been held without bond since Love’s death. The Washington Examiner reported Monday that Virginia prosecutors have decided not to seek the death penalty in the case, and that sources close to the case expect a plea deal before trial.