Witnessing resumed Friday during the trial of Derek Chauvin, the fired Minneapolis agent charged with the death of George Floyd, after two medical experts testified that Floyd died of deprivation of oxygen and not drugs, as he has suggested the defense. The first witness to be positioned is forensic pathologist Dr. Lindsey Thomas, who testifies for prosecution.
He stated that Floyd would not have died that day if police had not detained him and explained that he was able to rule out a cardiac arrhythmia or an overdose of fentanyl as a case of death.
“The actions of the police officers led to the death of Mr. Floyd; specifically, these actions were subdual, retention and neck compression,” Thomas said.
His testimony came a day after another medical expert, Dr. Martin Tobin, testified that Floyd died from a low level of oxygen that damaged his brain and caused his heart to stop. Tobin said Floyd was caught “in a turn” between the weight of the officers’ bodies and the street. He also dismissed the defense’s suggestion that Floyd’s underlying heart conditions and fentanyl use contributed to his death.
Later, Dr. Bill Smock, an emergency physician and forensic specialist, took a similar stance and opinion, saying Floyd did not die from a drug overdose, but because “he had no air left in his body. “.
Smock said Floyd’s pleas about “I can’t breathe” are an example of “hunger in the air,” which he called “the human desire to live, to breathe.” He described a drowned person struggling to reach the surface of the water. In contrast, someone suffering from a fentanyl overdose would not experience “air hunger” because their body would be in “sleep mode” and their breathing would gradually slow down until they went into a coma, Smock said.
“Breathe, talk, don’t snore, say,‘ Please, please, get down from me, I want to breathe, I can’t breathe, ’” Smock said. “This is not an overdose of fentanyl, that is, someone asking for breath “.
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 agents involved are accused of aiding and abetting, and are expected to be tried together in August.