Defence expert testifies Floyd died from heart disease, exhaust fumes
MINNEAPOLIS — A medical expert testifying in defence of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin told the jury Wednesday he believed George Floyd's death during last May's arrest was the result of heart disease making his heart beat erratically.
Dr. David Fowler, who was Maryland's chief medical examiner until his retirement in 2019, said the exhaust fumes of the police car against which Chauvin restrained Floyd on the road may also have contributed to Floyd's death.
Fowler appeared to dispute the findings of the Hennepin County medical examiner, who ruled Floyd's death a homicide caused by police restraining Floyd in a way that starved his body of oxygen.
Chauvin, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter charges.
He was seen kneeling on the neck of Floyd, a 46-yearold Black man in handcuffs, for nine minutes in bystander video that sparked global protests against police brutality.
Fowler said he had studied the findings of the county medical examiner and decided that Floyd's death was caused by his heart suddenly beating in an erratic way, known as sudden cardiac arrhythmia.
The jury has heard from medical experts called by prosecutors from the Minnesota attorney general's office, who say Floyd had high blood pressure, a slightly enlarged heart and used opioid painkillers but that none were the cause of his death.