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Medical examiner: Subdual, restraint and compression were ‘more than Mr. Floyd could take’

Medical examiner Dr. Andrew Baker said Floyd's direct cause of death was what happened in police custody, but added drugs and heart disease contributed.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — Friday’s testimony in the Derek Chauvin trial brought Hennepin County’s chief medical examiner to the stand, who testified that what happened to George Floyd in police custody was his direct cause of death and that drugs and heart disease were contributing factors.

"In my opinion, the law enforcement subdual, restraint and the neck compression was just more than Mr. Floyd could take by virtue of those heart conditions,” said Dr. Andrew Baker, Hennepin County Medical Examiner.

Baker said heart disease and hypertensive disease complicated Floyd’s death, and that his heart needed more oxygen because of its size.

Dr. Baker said the heart disease, history of hypertension and drugs in his system did play a role in Floyd’s death. However, those factors were not the direct cause.

Dr. Stephen Nelson, chief medical examiner for Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties, said it is important to make the distinction between the contributing factors and the immediate cause of death. He said he believes the defense will seize on a statement Dr. Baker made that if Floyd had been found dead at home alone, then it would be acceptable to call his death an overdose. He added it is important, though, to consider the whole picture.

“We medical examiners do not function in a vacuum, so circumstances are incredibly important to us as the whole picture before we finalize the cause of death,” said Nelson.  

“So yes, if we found somebody at home in bed with drugs in their system, yes, that could very well be an overdose. The same thing goes if we find somebody who's on videotape, with their knee on the decedent for nine and a half minutes. That plays a big role in what's going on with him. So, again, it's one thing to die with something, it's entirely another thing to die from something.”

Nelson has reviewed the autopsy and said he does not believe Floyd’s death was an overdose. “I think Mr. Floyd's death is asphyxia due to this restraint that was applied by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for nine minutes, 29 seconds."

A forensic pathologist who testified Friday said a drug overdose would look very different from the way Floyd died. She said overdoses are typically slow, peaceful and without struggle.

Testimony will continue on Monday.

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