The trial of Derek Chauvin has entered its second week. Former police officer Chauvin is being tried for manslaughter, second-degree murder and third-degree murder.
In the latest development, the medical experts who testified said that George Floyd died of asphyxia. Chauvin, while detaining Floyd for alleged use of a counterfeit note, knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes.
Minneapolis police Chief Medaria Arradondo testified on Monday that the extent of force used by Chauvin was excessive and that Chauvin violated police policies. Chauvin’s defenders have said that Floyd died as a result of the use of fentanyl, an opioid drug.
Dr Andrew Baker, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner who conducted Floyd's autopsy, said he hadn’t seen the footage of Floyd’s death, until after completing his report, which read that Floyd died of “cardiopulmonary arrest, complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.” While the defence attorney did get Baker to acknowledge that drug use and heart disease had a role in Floyd’s death, Baker maintained that the main cause of Floyd’s death was law enforcement restraint.
Dr Martin Tobin, a Chicago doctor and breathing expert, who said he had dissected the footage from various angles, said that Chauvin continued to apply pressure on Floyd’s neck for two minutes 44 seconds even after Floyd had no pulse.
Lindsey Thomas, a forensic pathologist in Minneapolis, said that Floyd died of asphyxia, an ABC News report reads.
