Stress from police restraint 'more than Mr. Floyd could take,' chief medical officer testifies

Restraint used by police on George Floyd was too much for his underlying heart condition and caused the death of the 46-year-old Black man, the local county's chief medical officer told a Minneapolis court on Friday.

"[The adrenaline is] going to ask your body for more oxygen so that you can get through that altercation," said Dr. Andrew Baker,the Hennepin County medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Floyd and ruled his death to be ahomicide.

Baker's testimony marked the 10th day of the murdertrial of DerekChauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who is facing trial on charges of second-degree unintentional murder; third-degree murder; and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of Floyd.

"And in my opinion, the law enforcement subdual restraint and the neck compression was just more than Mr. Floyd could take by virtue ofthose heart conditions," Baker said.

Baker's testimonyveered somewhat from what the court had previously heard from other medical witnesses called by the prosecution.

Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on the back of his neck for around nine minutes as two other officers held him down.

Witness reaffirmedautopsy report

The outcome of the high profile trial is being closely watched after video of the arrest of Floyd captured by a bystander prompted widespread outrage, setting off protests over race and police brutality across the U.S. and around the world.

The prosecution saysChauvin pressing his knee intoFloyd's neck while detaining him on suspicion of using a counterfeit bill at a convenience store, caused his death. But the defence argues Chauvin did what his training taught him and that it was acombination of Floyd's underlying medical conditions, drug useand adrenaline flowing throughhis system that ultimatelykilledhim.

The court has so far heard from prosecutionmedical experts, including a leading lung specialist, who havetestifiedthat Floyd died from asphyxia or insufficient oxygen because of the actions of police. Baker has not ruled asphyxiation to be a cause of Floyd's death.

Previous witnesseshad significantly downplayed Floyd's pre-existing medical conditions and drugs found in his system as playinga role in his death.

However, Baker reaffirmed the findings of his autopsy report. He saidthose elements were contributing factors, though not the primary cause of death.

Adrenaline impacts

Under questioning by prosecutor Jerry Blackwell, Baker explained thatFloyd had narrowed coronary arteriesabout 75 per cent blockage in his left anterior descending artery and 90 per cent blockage in his right coronary artery. Floyd also had hypertensive heart disease, meaning his heart weighed slightly more than it should.

Floyd's confrontation with police, which included being pinned facedown on the pavement while Chauvin pressed his knees into his neck, produced adrenaline that made Floyd's heart beat faster.

Baker testified that Floyd died of"cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression."

Asked to explain cardiopulmonary arrest, Baker said that was "fancy medical lingo for the heart and the lungs stopped."

He also explained the definitionof "homicide" in an autopsy report, that it was a medical and not a legal term, whichis applied when the actions of other people were involved in an individual's death.

Cross-examination

During cross-examination,Chauvin's lawyer Eric Nelson seized on the potential role played by Floyd's heart condition and drugs found in his system.

"In your opinion, both the heart disease as well as the history of hypertension and the drugs thatwere in his system played a role in Mr. Floyd's death?"Nelson asked Baker.

"In my opinion, yes," Bakersaid.

Baker also agreed that he had certified overdose as the cause of death in otherautopsies where thatindividualhad much lower levels of fentanyl intheir system than was found inFloyd.

Nelson asked Baker if he recalled havingconversations last yearwith prosecutors in which he described the level of fentanyl found in Floyd's system was a "fatal level."

"I recall describing it in other circumstances, itwould be a fatal level," Baker said.

But Bakeralso agreed that hehad described Floyd's s death as a "multifactorialprocess."

He said drugs and hypertension were not "direct causes" but they were "contributing causes."

The trial continues.