Day 10 of testimony in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin wrapped up early Friday, ending the second full week of testimony.
Dr. Lindsey Thomas was the first witness to take the stand. She is a retired medical examiner who worked at the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office for 37 years.
She testified that even though Floyd’s heart stopped, he did not die of a sudden heart attack, but instead of asphyxia or low oxygen levels due to the restraints that officers put on his neck, “It was not a type of death that has been reported in fentanyl overdoses where someone becomes sleepy and sort of gradually, calmly and peacefully stops breathing,” said Dr. Thomas. “This was not that kind of death.”
Dr. Thomas commented on all of the documentation included in this case, and that she had never had a case so thoroughly, documented and that it had helped her determine how Floyd died, “What I observed from all the videos is this was not a sudden death,"she said. “It’s not like snow shoveling when someone clutches their chest and falls over. There was nothing sudden about his death.”
Dr. Thomas also testified that she believed George Floyd did not have a stroke, or aneurysm, and nor did he have a blood clot.
Jurors were also shown photographs of the autopsy that was done on George Floyd. The pool reporter describing the graphic images.
One image was a close up shot of Floyd’s scraped-up face, with his eyes closed. The picture show a piece of plastic in his mouth. The other photos are different views and angles of his face, shoulders, hands, focusing on the injuries he sustained during the struggle and restraint. There was also a very graphic image of a close-up of one of Floyd’s limbs that had been cut open lengthwise, with the muscles pulled back and the bone exposed.
A member of Floyd’s family was shown the photos. He did not have any obvious emotional reaction, but spent a lot of time staring at the photos. Also of note, there was for the first time, a person from Chauvin’s family inside the courtroom.
After the lunch break, The chief Hennepin county medical examiner who ruled George Floyd's death a homicide took the stand.
Dr. Andrew Baker said Friday that he did not watch the harrowing video of the arrest before examining Floyd so that he would not be biased by what he saw, "I did see the video that the entire world saw later that day afterr I had done the autopsy, but I didn't release his body until the next day.," Dr Baker said."It didn't want to be biased going in."
Chauvin is accused of killing Floyd by pressing his knee on or near the Black man's neck for up to 9 1/2 minutes last May. The defense contends Chauvin was doing his duty and that Floyd died of drug use or heart disease.
The trial will resume Monday morning, with at least one more medical expert expected to take the stand for the prosecution.
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