Medical examiner: Restraint ‘more than’ Floyd could take

restraint and neck compression” led to Floyd’s death, Baker said that Floyd had severe underlying heart disease and an enlarged heart that needed more oxygen than normal to function, as well as narrowing of two heart arteries.

Baker said being involved in a scuffle raises adrenaline, which asks the heart to beat even faster and supply more oxygen.

“And in my opinion, the law enforcement subdual, restraint and the neck compression was just more than Mr. Floyd could take by virtue of that, those heart conditions,” the medical examiner said.

Other medical experts, including a leading lung specialist, have gone further, testifying that Floyd ultimately died from a lack of oxygen because of the way he was restrained on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back, his face jammed against the ground and Chauvin’s knee in his neck.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death May 25.

Floyd was arrested outside a neighborhood market after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.

Bystander video of Floyd crying that he couldn’t breathe as onlookers yelled at the officer to get off him sparked protests and violence around the U.S.

Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson has argued that the now-fired white officer did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s illegal drug use and underlying health conditions, not Chauvin’s knee, killed him. An autopsy found fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd’s system.

Baker testified that neither Floyd’s heart problems nor drugs caused his death: “Mr. Floyd’s use of fentanyl did not cause the subdual or neck restraint. His heart disease did not cause the subdual or the neck restraint.”

Under cross-examination, though, Baker agreed with Nelson that Floyd’s heart disease and drug use “played a role” in the death.

A medical expert who testified Thursday said a healthy person subjected to what Floyd endured would also have died.

Nelson asked Baker whether he has certified deaths by fentanyl overdose at levels lower than that seen in Floyd’s blood, and Baker said yes.