George Floyd died from a lack of oxygen during his arrest, a doctor at the trial of ex-police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis has said. Contradicting the defence, Dr Martin Tobin said fentanyl did not cause Floyd's death. He said even a “healthy person…would have died”, notes a BBC News report.
Chauvin (45) was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes during his arrest last May, causing global protests against racism. The white ex-officer is on trial for murder and has denied the charges against him.
A toxicology report released last June showed Floyd had the painkiller fentanyl and the drug methamphetamine in his system. Since then, the defence has argued that the fentanyl caused Floyd's loss of oxygen.
However, Tobin, an intensive care doctor, said that Floyd's breathing did not slow down enough for the painkiller to have been a factor in his total loss of oxygen. Asked about the positioning of the handcuffs behind Floyd's back, coupled with the downward pressure of Chauvin's weight against him, Tobin – an expert in pulmonary medicine – said that Floyd's ability to expand his chest to breathe was severely impaired.
Forensic toxicologist Daniel Isenschmid, whose laboratory tested Floyd's blood and urine samples following his death, said there was evidence that some of the fentanyl had metabolised, meaning that an overdose was less likely.
Later in the hearing, the defence questioned Kentucky police surgeon Dr Bill Smock, who works for the Louisville police and is an expert in forensic emergency medicine. Smock said Floyd displayed “air hunger”, a term for when the body becomes desperate for oxygen. While a fentanyl overdose can slow down breathing, he said people who are overdosing are not aware that they are lacking oxygen and often appear sleepy.
In contrast, he said Floyd appeared to be alert.
On cross-examination, he concurred with the defence that there was “no safe” amount of methamphetamine to be in someone's system, and that an overdose of methamphetamine and fentanyl combined may look different from fentanyl alone.