George Floyd: Former medical examiner Dr. David Fowler says Floyd died as a result of his heart condition – not Derek Chauvin

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“In my opinion, Mr. Floyd had a sudden arrhythmia or arrhythmia as a result of his atherosclerosis and hypertensive heart disease … during his restraint and subduality by the police,” said Dr. David Fowler, a retired forensic pathologist. in late 2019 as Maryland’s chief medical examiner.

Floyd had narrowed coronary arteries, known as atherosclerosis, and an enlarged heart due to his high blood pressure, or hypertension, Fowler said. Floyd’s use of fentanyl and methamphetamine and a tumor known as a paraganglioma were other major conditions that contributed to his death, he said.

Dr. Fowler also advanced a new argument that carbon monoxide from the patrol car’s exhaust may have contributed to his death.

But during a cross-examination, he admitted that he had no data or test results to support the theory and no injuries from carbon monoxide were found. When asked how he knew the vehicle was even on, Fowler said he noticed water dripping from the exhaust pipe, indicating it was running.

Dr. David Fowler theorized that carbon monoxide from the patrol car may have contributed to George Floyd's death.

Dr. Fowler says he ruled out choking on Floyd’s death.

“Positional choking, as the term is used in court today, is an interesting hypothesis and is not supported by experimental data,” he testified.

All in all, Dr. Fowler said that Floyd’s death should have been classified as “undetermined” rather than murder because of so many competing causes.

The testimony cuts to the prosecution’s argument, supported by five separate medical experts, that Floyd’s primary cause of death was low oxygen levels as a result of Chauvin’s reluctance to have a handcuffed Floyd in the prone position – known as “ positional asphyxiation. ” To get a guilty verdict, prosecutors must prove that Chauvin’s actions were a “substantial causal factor” in Floyd’s death.
Dr. Fowler included Wednesday’s entire testimony. The day before, six witnesses testified in front of the defense, including an expert on violence, who said Chauvin’s actions were justified. Several other witness statements focused on Floyd’s drug use, most notably during an earlier arrest in May 2019.
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Together, the witnesses advanced the three main arguments of the defense in the case: that Floyd died of drug and health problems, that Chauvin’s use of violence was ugly but appropriate, and that a hostile crowd of bystanders distracted Chauvin.
The prosecution rested her case on Tuesday morning after calling 38 witnesses for 11 days. Prosecutors tried to prove that Chauvin used excessive and unreasonable force when he knelt on Floyd’s neck and back for nine minutes and 29 seconds last May. Their case relied heavily on multiple videos of Chauvin’s actions, analysis by police experts, and medical testimony of how Floyd died.

Chauvin, 45, has pleaded not guilty to charges of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. The defense of the case is expected to take just a few days, with closing arguments expected before Monday, Judge Peter Cahill said.

While the trial focused on Chauvin and Floyd, the broader social stakes became apparent this week when a police officer shot and killed a black man at the nearby Brooklyn Center, sparking three nights of protests. The officer resigned and was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter, authorities said. The Floyd family has expressed their condolences and support to the family of 20-year-old Daunte Wright.

“We are here and we will fight for justice for his family, just as we fight for our brother,” Philonise Floyd said on Tuesday.

The doctor says Floyd should have gotten medical attention

Dr. David Fowler testified at the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on April 14.

In a cross-examination, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell sharply questioned Dr. Fowler, repeatedly halting the doctor’s attempts to provide longer answers.

Last week, Dr. Martin Tobin, a pulmonologist, for prosecuting that Chauvin’s actions narrowed Floyd’s hypopharynx, a part of the throat that air passes through. Dr. Fowler said he looked at that testimony and went looking for more information, but found none. “It’s not something I’ve ever heard of,” he said.

He also admitted that he is not a pulmonologist and tried not to calculate how much air was in Floyd’s lungs between breaths – an important part of Dr. Tobin.

Dr. Fowler was unable to identify the point where Floyd went into sudden cardiac arrest, and said he did not notice Floyd’s voice getting thicker and quieter as time went on. He also said he agreed that Floyd should have received immediate medical attention on the spot.

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The physician’s analysis contradicted much of what the Prosecution’s experts said last week.

Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker, who performed Floyd’s autopsy, testified last week that police reluctance was the leading cause of death, citing Floyd’s heart disease and fentanyl use as other major conditions.
He described the paraganglioma as an “incidental” tumor unrelated to his death. None of the doctors mentioned carbon monoxide as a role.

Dr. Jonathan Rich, a cardiologist who testified to the prosecution on Monday, said Floyd’s heart showed no evidence of injury at all.

“I can state with a high degree of medical certainty that George Floyd did not die of a primary cardiac event, and he did not die of a drug overdose,” said Rich.

Fowler is charged with the “eerily similar” death of a Maryland teenager

Separately, Dr. Fowler mentioned in a lawsuit by the family of a Maryland teen who died during a 2018 police encounter that a family attorney called “eerily similar” to Floyd’s death.

Anton Black died after an argument with Greensboro, Maryland police officers in which he was held in the prone position for about six minutes, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit involves allegations that Dr. Fowler and other members of the Office of the Medical Examiner “have covered up and obscured the police’s responsibility for Anton Black’s death.” The lawsuit alleges that Fowler and others deliberately withheld toxicological results that contradicted police claims about drug use and falsely attributed the cause of death to other causes.

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Black’s Medical Examination Report, signed by Dr. Fowler, found no evidence “that reticence by law enforcement directly caused or contributed significantly to the death of the deceased” and suggested that “the manner of death is best classified as an accident.”

No charges have been filed against the police officers involved in the incident.

Attorney Kenneth Ravenell, who represents Black’s family in the lawsuit, told CNN he was “dumbfounded” when he first learned that Dr. Fowler would testify in the Chauvin trial.

“We were initially surprised that Dr. Fowler would testify, especially since he is a defendant in an eerily similar case,” Ravenell said. “He’s a hired weapon.”

The lawsuit has not been mentioned by lawyers from either side in the Chauvin trial.

Lawyers for Dr. Fowler had no comment, referring to ongoing lawsuits. Earlier this month, a motion was filed to dismiss the case on the basis that Dr. Fowler and other defendants have “qualified immunity,” and specifically because Dr. the changes sought by the plaintiffs.

CNN has contacted the Greensboro Police Department.

CNN’s Omar Jimenez, Carma Hassan, Cheri Mossburg, Brad Parks and Melissa Alonso contributed to this report.

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