MINNEAPOLIS — The Derek Chauvin murder trial resumed Wednesday with an expert witness backing the defense's contention that George Floyd died of cardiac arrest combined with illicit drugs in his body and not from a lack of oxygen while pinned to the pavement by the now-fired police officer for more than nine minutes.
The testimony of Dr. David Fowler, who recently retired after 17 years as the chief medical examiner for the state of Maryland, marks the start of the cause of death phase of the defense's case. He wrapped his testimony by saying he would have classified Floyd's manner of death as undetermined due to the multiple factors he cited.
Fowler said Floyd had a cardiac arrhythmia due to his heart disease during his restraint by police while prone on the pavement at 38th and Chicago. The doctor said Floyd's fentanyl and methamphetamine use also played a significant role. He also included exposure to vehicle exhaust from a police squad close by his paraganglioma, tumors that can form near the carotid artery, and along nerve pathways in the head and neck.
"All of those combined to cause Mr. Floyd's death," Fowler said. He did not include lack of oxygen, or asphyxia, as the prosecution contended during the two-plus weeks it presented evidence.
Much of what Fowler pointed to is largely the same as the findings of Dr. Andrew Baker, the Hennepin County medical examiner. However, Baker previously testified in the trial that paraganglioma played no role in Floyd's death. Defense attorney Eric Nelson said in his opening statement that the tumor increases the flow of adrenaline.
Fowler said his review of Floyd's case was subjected to scrutiny by 13 members of The Forensic Panel. He said there were seven forensic pathologists among the 13 who did the peer review, along with specialists in behavioral health, pulmonology, emergency medicine and toxicology.
Fowler's testimony comes as he is among several people being sued in federal court on behalf of the family of Anton Black, a young Black adult who died in police custody in September 2018 in Maryland.
The suit alleges that Black's death was caused by officers' excessive use of force and that Fowler and other public officials covered up for those officers. The suit contends that Fowler unnecessarily delayed the release of autopsy results and was unethically influenced by police. No one was charged in Black's death.
"Two years before George Floyd died after being restrained and pinned down by police, 19-year-old Anton Black … was killed by three white law enforcement officials and a white civilian in a chillingly similar manner on Maryland's Eastern Shore," the suit reads, according to The Washington Post.
"Anton Black died because police employed excessive force, laying him out prone on his stomach, lying on top of him for approximately six minutes and approximately five minutes after he was handcuffed, and folding his legs toward the sky in a manner that further compromised his ability to breathe," the lawsuit continues, The Post reported.
LaToya Holley, Black's sister, told WTOP Radio in Washington, D.C., this week, "It's surreal that you have two men on the opposite sides of the country that experienced almost the same treatment by two different police officers. The medical examiner, in my opinion, was egregious in the way he finalized Anton's autopsy results. Now, he's being called to be an expert witness for another police officer."
After Wednesday's morning break in the Chauvin trial, Fowler explained why he added carbon monoxide poisoning as a possible contributor to Floyd's death.
Fowler said that video from an officer's body-worn camera showed Floyd's face pointed toward the exhaust pipe of a running police squad.
The doctor testified that it doesn't take much carbon monoxide saturation, as low as 6%, to begin showing affects of this highly toxic gas in young healthy individuals, let alone people with underlying health conditions such as Floyd.
"In Mr. Floyd, it robs him of an additional percentage of oxygen carrying capacity, whether it's 5% or 10%, it takes away from the important factor of getting blood to his heart," he said. "This is another insult, another brick in the wall" of contributing factors, he said, adding that the officers holding down Floyd were farther from the source and less likely to be affected.
Earlier testimony revealed that the vehicle was a hybrid, which operates with both an electric motor and gasoline engine.
Fowler also cited a study that concluded that no individuals were found to suffer from asphyxia in the so-called "hog tie position." Weights were applied to individuals totaling up to 225 pounds, and the study still found no disturbance in their ability to breathe. However, he acknowledged the subjects of the study were placed under different circumstances than Floyd such as a softer floor surface and knowing that their lives were not at risk.
In connection with having Chauvin and other officers on top of him, Fowler also testified that he could find no bruises or other injuries to the back. He also said he concluded that Chauvin's left knee was "nowhere close to the airway" at anytime.
"Any of the sounds Mr. Floyd is making requires you to take air in ... and out," the doctor. "You cannot make sound unless you're ... moving air and your mouth is open."
Floyd was "coherent and understandable" and not confused, incoherent or disoriented before "very rapidly" becoming silent and motionless, Fowler said. He went onto call Floyd's transition "much more consistent with a sudden cardiac event vs. low oxygen, which affects the brain first."
Fowler spelled out the health risks of taking the powerful opioid fentanyl as well as methamphetamine. Both drugs were found in Floyd's body during autopsy. The doctor also said his review of toxicological tests on Floyd showed his meth use was "recent."
Fowler said there were "conflicting manners" concerning Floyd's death. "Restrained in a very stressful situation," that would be homicide, he said. Ingesting drugs would be accidental, and there were the natural causes of Floyd's heart problems and other health challenges, he said.
Therefore, Fowler said, "I would fall back to undetermined in this particular case."
The prosecution is expected to cross-examine Fowler Wednesday afternoon.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of Floyd last spring. Three other fired officers who assisted in Floyd's arrest — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — are scheduled to be tried in August on charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.
Before testimony started Wednesday, Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill ruled that a friend who was with Floyd at the time of his arrest can refuse to testify. Morries L. Hall, 42, invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination and told the judge that he fears being charged with serious crimes should he answer questions from the defense or prosecution.
"I fearful of criminal charges going forward," Hall said while standing at the podium usually reserved for attorneys. "I [also] have open charges that's not settled yet." His attorney told the court last week that Hall would open himself up to third-degree murder charges in connection with Floyd's death if he were to testify.
Cahill said, "I'm finding that he has a complete Fifth Amendment privilege here" and then quashed the subpoena, a ruling that was a defeat for the defense's contention that fentanyl and methamphetamine played a role in Floyd's death.
Hall is suspected of being a provider of illicit drugs to Floyd over an extended period of time. Floyd's girlfriend testified earlier that Hall supplied Floyd with drugs sometime in the month of Floyd's death.
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(Star Tribune staff writers Rochelle Olson and Chao Xiong contributed to this report.)
