A medical examiner said the way police held George Floyd down was more than he could handle.

Medical examiner testifies pinning of Floyd led to homicide

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 9½ minutes as the Black man was 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, 46, 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.

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 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.

Under cross-examination, Baker agreed with Nelson that Floyd’s heart disease, narrowed arteries and drug use “played a role” in Floyd’s death, though he testified that those things did not cause the death.

As he put it under questioning from the prosecution: “Mr. Floyd’s use of fentanyl did not cause the subdual or neck restraint. His heart disease did not cause the the subdual or the neck restraint.”

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

Baker testified that his examination of Floyd’s heart found no “visible or microscopic previous damage” to the heart muscle. Baker also said he noticed no injury to Floyd’s brain from either trauma or oxygen deprivation. And he said he did not notice any pills or pill fragments in Floyd’s stomach.

Baker also said he did not watch video of the arrest before examining Floyd so that he would not be influenced by what he saw.

“I was aware that at least one video had gone viral on the internet, but I intentionally chose not to look at that until I had examined Mr. Floyd,” he said. “I did not want to bias my exam by going in with any preconceived notions that might lead me down one pathway or another.”

Other medical experts called as prosecution witnesses have likewise blamed Floyd’s death on the way he was pinned down.