Expert: Lack of oxygen killed Floyd, not drugs
MINNEAPOLIS – The chief medical examiner who ruled George Floyd’s death a homicide testified Friday that the way police held him down and compressed his neck “was just more than Mr. Floyd could take,” given the condition of his heart.
Dr. Andrew Baker, the Hennepin County medical examiner, took the stand at the murder trial of former Officer Derek Chauvin for pressing his knee on or close to Floyd’s neck for what prosecutors said was as much as 91⁄2 minutes as the 46-year-old Black man lay pinned to the pavement last May.
Asked about his finding that police “subdual, 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,” Baker said.
Other medical experts, including a leading lung specialist, have gone further, testifying that Floyd 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.
Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson has argued that the now-fired 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. But Baker also noted that levels of fentanyl must be considered in the context of how long someone had used the drug, any tolerance built up to it, and what other substances may be involved
Baker testified that his examination of Floyd’s heart found no “visible or microscopic previous damage” to the heart muscle.
Dr. Lindsey Thomas, a retired forensic pathologist, testified earlier Friday that she agreed with Baker’s findings, but appeared to go further, saying the “primary mechanism of death” was asphyxia, or insufficient oxygen.