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MINNEAPOLIS — George Floyd died of a sudden heart rhythm problem due to his heart disease while being restrained by police, a retired forensic pathologist testified for the defence Wednesday at former Officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial, contradicting several experts who said Floyd succumbed to a lack of oxygen.
Dr. David Fowler, a former chief medical examiner for the state of Maryland and now a member of consulting firm, said that the fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd's system, and possible carbon monoxide poisoning from auto exhaust, were contributing factors. He said Floyd's heart disease included high blood pressure and narrowing of the arteries.
"All of those combined to cause Mr. Floyd’s death," he said on the second day of the defence case.
Chauvin attorney Derek Nelson is trying to prove that the 19-year Minneapolis police veteran did what he was trained to do and that Floyd died because of his illegal drug use and underlying health problems.
Prosecutors say Floyd died because Chauvin’s knee was pressed into Floyd’s neck or neck area for 9 1/2 minutes as the 46-year-old Black man lay pinned to the pavement on his stomach last May with his hands cuffed behind his back.
Several top Minneapolis police officials, including the police chief, have testified that Chauvin used excessive force and violated his training. And a number of medical experts called by prosecutors have said that Floyd died from a lack of oxygen because the way he was restrained restricted his breathing.
However, the chief county medical examiner who ruled Floyd’s death a homicide, Dr. Andrew Baker, did not identify lack of oxygen, or asphyxia, as the cause of death. When he took the stand for the prosecution, he testified that Floyd had severe underlying heart disease and an enlarged heart, and that the way he was held down and his neck compressed was more than Floyd’s heart could take.
Fowler handled a case similar to Floyd’s in Maryland in 2018, when a 19-year-old Black man, Anton Black, died after three officers and a civilian pinned him for more than five minutes as they handcuffed him and shackled his legs.
The family brought a federal lawsuit that included Fowler, whose autopsy found that the stress of the struggle probably contributed to Black’s death but found no evidence that restraint directly caused it. It also found no evidence of asphyxia.
Chauvin, a 45-year-old white man, is on trial on charges of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death after his arrest on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 at a neighbourhood market.
The defence hasn’t said whether Chauvin will take the stand.
Testifying could open him up to devastating cross-examination, with prosecutors replaying the video of Floyd’s arrest and forcing Chauvin, one freeze-frame moment at a time, to explain why he kept pressing down on Floyd.
But taking the stand could also give the jury the opportunity to see and hear any remorse or sympathy Chauvin might feel. It would give jurors a good look at his face; he has had to wear a COVID-19 mask while seated at the defence table.
The only time Chauvin has been heard publicly defending himself was when the jury listened to body-camera footage from the scene. After an ambulance had taken Floyd away, Chauvin was heard telling a bystander: "We gotta control this guy ’cause he’s a sizable guy ... and it looks like he’s probably on something."
Earlier Wednesday, Judge Peter Cahill turned down a defence request to acquit Chauvin, rejecting claims that prosecutors failed to prove Chauvin’s actions killed Floyd. Requests for an acquittal are routinely made midway through a trial and are usually denied.
The defence began its case on Tuesday with Nelson challenging the heart of the case against Chauvin — whether his actions were reasonable.
The question of what is reasonable is important: Police officers are allowed certain latitude to use force. Legal experts say a key issue for the jury will be whether the officer's actions were reasonable in those specific circumstances.
A use-of-force expert testified Tuesday that Chauvin was justified in keeping Floyd pinned to the pavement, saying Floyd kept on struggling.
Barry Brodd, a former Santa Rosa, California, officer, likened the case to a situation in which officers use a Taser on someone fighting with officers, and the suspect falls, hits his head and dies: "That isn’t an incident of deadly force. That’s an incident of an accidental death."
He stoutly defended Chauvin’s actions, saying it's "easy to sit and judge ... an officer’s conduct.:
"It’s more of a challenge to, again, put yourself in the officer’s shoes to try to make an evaluation through what they’re feeling, what they’re sensing, the fear they have, and then make a determination," Brodd said.
Brodd also testified that bystanders yelling at police to get off Floyd complicated the situation for Chauvin and the others by causing them to wonder whether the crowd was becoming a threat, too.
Brodd also appeared to endorse what prosecution witnesses have said is a common misconception: that if someone can talk, he or she can breathe.
"I certainly don’t have medical degrees, but I was always trained and feel it’s a reasonable assumption that if somebody’s, ‘I’m choking, I’m choking,’ well, you’re not choking because you can breathe," he said.
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Find AP’s full coverage of the death of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd
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Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan. Associated Press video journalist Angie Wang contributed from Atlanta.