MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The county’s chief physician who ruled George Floyd’s death was a murder took the stand on Friday during the murder trial of former officer Derek Chauvin, saying he had not watched the shocking video of the arrest before he Floyd investigated so he wouldn’t be biased by what he saw.
“I knew there was at least one video that had gone viral on the Internet, but I made a conscious decision not to watch it until I examined Mr. Floyd,” said Dr. Andrew Baker. “I didn’t want to skew my exam by discussing prejudices that could lead me down one path or the other.”
Baker, the Hennepin County medical examiner, concluded last year that Floyd died of cardiac arrest – that is, his heart stopped – complicated by the way the police restrained him and compressed his neck when the 46-year-old black man last time on the sidewalk. May.
Another medical expert blamed Floyd’s death on Friday along the way, police detained him while Chauvin’s attorney pressured the witness with hypothetical questions and other means to suggest that Floyd’s drug use or heart disease killed him.
The testimony of Dr. Lindsey Thomas, a forensic pathologist who retired from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office in 2017, reinforced the findings of other prosecution experts who took the stand during Chauvin’s murder trial.
Thomas, who did not work on Floyd’s case, said the “ primary mechanism of death ” was asphyxiation, or insufficient oxygen – a conclusion she usually made from a video showing Floyd struggling to breathe while Chauvin was on his neck knelt and two other Minneapolis. police officers helped to detain him.
“This is a death in which both the heart and lungs stop working. The thing is, it’s due to subdual, restraint and compression from law enforcement, ”said Thomas.
The autopsy itself ruled out a heart attack, aneurysm, and other causes, and Thomas said it wasn’t a drug overdose death either.
“There is no evidence to suggest that he died that night, apart from contacts with the police,” she testified.
Thomas said she agreed with Baker’s findings, but went on to specify that Floyd died of asphyxiation. She said there was nothing in Floyd’s autopsy to notice that, but she said that’s not uncommon.
Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death on May 25. Floyd was arrested outside a neighborhood market after being accused of trying on a counterfeit $ 20 bill.
Bystander video of Floyd crying he couldn’t breathe while onlookers yelling at the white officer to get rid of him sparked protests and spread violence in the US.
Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson has argued that the now-fired white officer did what he was trained to do and was not responsible for Floyd’s death. Floyd had high blood pressure and heart disease, and autopsy found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system.
Under cross-examination by Nelson, Thomas said she believed Floyd’s heart was “slightly” enlarged.
Nelson asked Thomas what could cause a heart to suddenly stop beating, noting that Floyd’s larger heart needed more blood and worked hard in a moment of stress and adrenaline, and one of his arteries was 90% blocked .
Thomas said any blockage greater than 70% to 75% can be used to explain death, in the absence of another cause. But she also said that some people can live just fine with an artery that is completely blocked.
The defense attorney pressured Thomas by asking a hypothetical question.
“Let’s assume you found Mr. Floyd dead in his house. No police interference, no drugs, right? All you found is these facts about his heart. What would you conclude as the cause of death? Nelson asked.
“In those very limited circumstances, I would probably conclude that the cause of death was his heart disease,” Thomas replied.
She also agreed that fentanyl can slow a person’s breathing and that methamphetamine can cause the heart to work harder and cause cardiac arrhythmias – a potentially fatal heart rhythm disorder.
In response to another hypothetical from Nelson, she agreed that she would certify Floyd’s death as an overdose if there were no other explanations.
But during the re-questioning, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell ridiculed the attorney’s hypothesis and quickly had Thomas reiterate that Floyd’s cause of death was police reluctance.
“Those questions don’t look much like questions,” Mrs. Lincoln, if we get John Wilkes Booth out of this …, ” Blackwell began, before Nelson objected.
Floyd’s death certificate listed certain contributing conditions: narrowed arteries, high blood pressure, fentanyl poisoning, and recent methamphetamine use. But Thomas said they did not directly cause his death and such factors are often listed on death certificates to inform public health officials.
Instead, Floyd died because the position of his body – lying on his stomach, his hands cuffed behind his back and agents pressing their body weight into him – made it impossible to breathe, said Thomas, who described Floyd’s death as “ so good. documented ‘. because of extensive video evidence.
A woman occupied a chair for the first time on Friday. She was not immediately identified. Chauvin’s marriage ended in divorce in the months after Floyd’s death.
Also on Friday, Judge Peter Cahill summoned a juror and asked her if she had been subject to outside influence. She replied that she had watched TV shows briefly with the sound off and said her mother-in-law texted her, “Looks like it was a bad day,” but she didn’t answer.
The judge allowed her to remain on the jury.
Find AP’s full coverage of George Floyd’s death at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd
Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan.