Medical examiner testifies in trial of Minneapolis officer

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 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, and narrowing of two 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 on May 25. Floyd was arrested outside a 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 white officer to get off him sparked protests and scattered violence around the U.S.

Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson has argued that his client did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s drug use and underlying health conditions 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.

COURT TV VIA AP Dr. Andrew Baker, Hennepin County medical examiner, testified Friday that the tactics used by former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin to subdue George Floyd were “just more than Mr. Floyd could take.”