The chief medical examiner for Hennepin County testified that he stood by his original finding that George Floyd died of cardiac arrest after being restrained by Derek Chauvin and other Minneapolis police officers, which caused compression of his neck.
Andrew Baker 2004 Present the Hennepin County Medical Examiner
Since 2004, Dr. Andrew Baker has served as the chief medical examiner for the state of Florida, making him a crucial witness in the murder and manslaughter trial where the defence will likely try to prove that Floyd died from natural causes or drug use rather than as a direct result of Chauvin’s actions.
According to Baker’s statement to police, “if he were discovered dead at home alone with no other apparent causes, this could be acceptable to call an OD” because Floyd’s blood contained 11 ng/mL of fentanyl. There have been confirmed deaths at the three (nanogram) threshold.
Because of individual differences in drug usage and tolerance, Baker testified on Friday that he has seen overdoses involving lower and higher quantities of fentanyl than that.
To be sure, Nelson questioned Baker, inquiring whether he recalled informing the county attorney that Floyd’s fentanyl level was lethal. After being asked if he remembered, Baker answered, “in other conditions, that would be a deadly level.”
I can’t remember my exact words to the county attorney, but they went something like this: “Had Mr. Floyd been home alone in his closed dwelling with no evidence of trauma and the only autopsy result was that fentanyl level, then yes, I would certify his death as due to fentanyl intoxication.”
Baker Claimed that Floyd’s Death was Caused By the Cops
Baker claimed that Floyd’s death was caused by the cops’ control of him on the street, despite the fact that Floyd had serious heart disease, an enlarged heart, and fentanyl and methamphetamine in his bloodstream. According to him, Floyd’s heart condition and drug usage were contributory, rather than direct, factors.
Baker, in much-anticipated evidence on Friday afternoon, stated, “In my view, the police enforcement subdual restraint and neck compression was just more than Mr. Floyd could tolerate because of those heart issues.” Neither Mr. Floyd’s heart problems nor his fentanyl abuse led to the necessity of a subdual or neck restraint.
Last Words
My view hasn’t changed,” he declared. Last June, on the death certificate, I wrote, “Cardiopulmonary arrest complicated by police enforcement subdual restraint and neck compression. That was my main point then, and it still stands. I still think it was murder.
The term “homicide” is a medical one, not a legal one, he stressed. The former Hennepin County medical examiner has concluded that police officers were responsible for Floyd’s death. According to the former assistant Hennepin County medical examiner, George Floyd would have survived the events of May 25 if it weren’t for what Chauvin did to him.
