A former top Maryland medical examiner testified on Wednesday that George Floyd died from a “cardiac arrhythmia,” and his death in Minneapolis police custody last year should have been classified as “undetermined” rather than homicide.
“In my opinion, Mr. Floyd had a sudden cardiac arrhythmia due to his atherosclerosis and hypertensive heart disease … during his restraint and subdual by the police,” Dr. David Fowler said, adding that the presence of fentanyl and methamphetamine in addition to Floyd’s paraganglioma tumor contributed to his death.
Fowler added that there were a number of other factors, including possible carbon monoxide poisoning from being near a car exhaust and Floyd’s enlarged heart. He concluded that, due to the number of competing causes, his death should have been classified as “undermined” rather than homicide. Floyd was 46 when he died.
DEFENSE BEGINS CASE IN CHAUVIN TRIAL AND SUMMONS OFFICER WHO ARRESTED GEORGE FLOYD IN THE PAST
Derek Chauvin, the former officer accused of killing Floyd, is currently on trial after he pleaded not guilty to charges of third-degree murder, second-degree murder, and manslaughter.
Andrew Baker, the chief medical examiner in Hennepin County since 2004, who ruled Floyd’s death a homicide, said in testimony last week that the police restraint was “just more than Mr. Floyd could take.”
Chauvin’s defense lawyer, Eric Nelson, began his case on Tuesday after 11 days of testimony from the prosecution, which has maintained that Floyd died by asphyxiation after Chauvin planted his knee on his neck for over nine minutes. Nelson first summoned Scott Creighton, a retired Minneapolis police officer, to the stand to discuss a past arrest involving Floyd around a year prior to his fatal encounter in May 2020.
Creighton was seen on video pointing his sidearm at Floyd after he failed to comply with directives to put his hands on the dashboard, and he appeared to be anxious and nervous. Creighton did not see Floyd take narcotics in the 2019 stop, but retired paramedic Michelle Moseng, who was brought forth by the prosecution in earlier trial segments, said Floyd told her that he was taking opioids approximately every 20 minutes.
On Tuesday, Nelson also summoned Barry Brodd, a use-of-force expert and former police officer, who said Chauvin was “justified” in his restraint techniques on Floyd.
“I felt that Derek Chauvin was justified and was acting with objective reasonableness, following Minneapolis Police Department policy and current standards of law enforcement in his interactions with Mr. Floyd,” he said.
The prosecution brought its own experts who contested the cardiac cause of death and proper use of force arguments from the defense.
Martin Tobin, a physician specializing in critical care of the lungs, posited last week that Floyd’s prone position in the street and pressure on his neck and back led to a pulseless electrical activity arrhythmia “that caused his heart to stop.”
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“Mr. Floyd died from a low level of oxygen,” he said at the time. “The cause of the low level of oxygen was shallow breathing, small breaths, small, tidal volumes, shallow breaths that weren’t able to carry the air through his lungs down to the essential areas of the lungs that get oxygen into the blood and get rid of the carbon dioxide.”
The city of Minneapolis has been on edge as it awaits the verdict from the trial, following threats of violence. The city now faces a new challenge as rioters descend on its streets amid the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a black man who was shot and killed by Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter after she mistook her firearm for a Taser. Potter has since been booked into jail on charges of manslaughter.
