The testimony was resumed Friday in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the fired Minneapolis officer charged in George Floyd’s death, after two medical experts testified that Floyd died of oxygen deficiency – not drugs, as the defense suggested. The first witness to take the stand was forensic pathologist Dr Lindsey Thomas, who testified about the prosecution.
She testified that Floyd would not have died that day if he had not been restrained by the police, and explained that she could rule out a heart arrhythmia or overdose of fentanyl as a result of the death.
“The actions of the law enforcement officers resulted in Mr Floyd’s death – specifically, these actions were sub-thumbs up, reticence and neck tightening,” Thomas said.
Her testimony comes a day after another medical expert, dr. Martin Tobin, testified that Floyd died of a low oxygen level that damaged his brain and caused his heart to stop. Tobin said Floyd was trapped between officers’ body weight and the street. He also discounts the defense’s suggestion that Floyd’s underlying heart conditions and use of fentanyl contribute to his death.
Later, dr. Bill Smock, an emergency physician and specialist in forensic medicine, took the stand and gave a similar opinion, saying Floyd was not dying from an overdose of drugs, but because he ‘had no air left in his body’.
Smock said Floyd’s pleadings of “I can not breathe” are an example of “air hunger”, which he called “the human desire to live, to breathe”. He described how a drowning man struggles to reach the water surface. In contrast, someone suffering from a fentanyl overdose will not have an air hunger because their body is in ‘sleep mode’, and their breathing will gradually slow down until they get into a coma, Smock said.
“He’s breathing, talking, not snoring and says, ‘Please, get away from me, I want to breathe, I can not breathe,'” Smock said. “It’s not an overdose of fentanyl, it’s someone begging. to breathe. ”
Chauvin, who was seen in disturbing videos kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree homicide.
Chauvin pleaded not guilty. The other three officers involved are charged with providing assistance and are expected to be tried together in August.