Doctor: Floyd died of asphyxia
Police chief gives scathing criticism of officer’s tactics
The emergency room physician who tended to George Floyd testified Monday that he “most likely’’ died from a lack of oxygen, adding that he had no reason to suspect a drug overdose or heart attack as the cause of death at the time.
Dr. Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld’s testimony at the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than 9 minutes, preceded a scathing assessment of Chauvin’s handling of Floyd’s arrest by Police Chief Medaria Arradondo.
Arradondo fired Chauvin and the three other officers involved in the case – J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane – when video of the May 25, 2020, arrest surfaced the next day.
Langenfeld said he tried for 30 minutes to revive Floyd before pronouncing him dead. Langenfeld was a senior resident at Hennepin County Medical Center when Floyd arrived in cardiac arrest.
When asked by prosecutor Jerry Blackwell what caused the cardiac arrest, Langenfeld said, “At the time, based on the history available to me, I felt that hypoxia was one of the most likely possibilities.’’ Hypoxia is a lack of
oxygen, which Langenfeld said he believed led to Floyd’s death from asphyxia.
Langenfeld also testified that the paramedics who brought in Floyd did not indicate he might have overdosed on drugs or suffered a heart attack.
During cross-examination by lead defense lawyer Eric Nelson, Langenfeld acknowledged that a combination of fentanyl and methamphetamine, which were found in Floyd’s system during a toxicology screen after his death, could cause hypoxia.
The defense has tried to make a case that drug use and poor health were reasons for Floyd’s death at 46. The viral video of a handcuffed Floyd, who was Black, pleading for oxygen while a white police officer continued to kneel on his neck helped spark a racial justice movement and massive protests across the country last year.
Arradondo, Minneapolis’ first Black police chief, called Floyd’s death “murder’’ about a month after it happened, saying in a statement, “The officers knew what was happening – one intentionally caused it and the others failed to prevent it. This was murder.’’
At the witness stand Monday, Arradondo was just as critical of the tactics used by Chauvin, who is facing charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Arradondo said Chauvin’s restraint on Floyd, who was pinned face-down against the ground after being accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill, “absolutely’’ violates department policy.
On Friday, Lt. Richard Zimmerman, the longest-serving policeman in the department, said officers are supposed to keep suspects in a prone position for only a short time, and referred to Chauvin’s use of force on Floyd as “totally unnecessary.’’
Arradondo said passing a counterfeit fill would not typically lead to a custodial arrest, and that the officers at the scene violated department policy by failing to render aid to a person in distress, as Floyd was.
“Clearly when Mr. Floyd’s no longer responsive and motionless, to continue to apply that level of force to a person proned out, handcuffed behind their back, that in no way, shape or form is backed by policy,’’ Arradondo said. “It is not backed by our training, and it’s certainly not our ethics or our values.”
Cross examination
On cross-examination, Nelson tried to discredit the force of Arradondo’s testimony, initially by suggesting that the chief was far removed from the realities of street crime arrests. Arradondo acknowledged that he had not made an arrest, personally, in many years.
Nelson also asked Arradondo whether any use of force can be used to de-escalate a situation. Arradondo said he has no knowledge of physical force being used to de-escalate a situation and that use of force experts would be best suited to discuss that.
Langenfeld, the first witness called on the trial’s sixth day, said there’s a 1015% decrease in survival rate for every minute that passes without a person in cardiac arrest getting cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
CPR and first aid are part of the yearly training officers are required to take, along with crisis intervention and defensive tactics, Arradondo said, adding that the department spent about $13 million on training last year.
At the request of prosecutor Steve Schleicher, Arradondo read aloud the department’s de-escalation policy, which says officers should verbally announce their intent to use force when reasonable.
The de-escalation policy states that officers “shall use de-escalation tactics to gain voluntary compliance’’ and try to “minimize use of physical force.’’
Officers are also required to “attempt to slow down or stabilize the situation,’’ which could even include seeking help from members of the community, Arradondo added.
He emphasized the importance of keeping “sanctity of life’’ as a guiding principle when considering the use of force.
“While it’s absolutely imperative our officers go home after their shift,’’ Arradondo said, “we want to ensure our community members go home as well. So sanctity of life is absolutely a pillar.’’
Also Monday, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill ruled that portions of video from Chauvin’s body camera will be admitted as evidence and shown to the jury.