Dr. David Fowler, former head of the medical examiner’s office in Maryland, said he believes that Floyd, due to his underlying heart issues, had a “sudden cardiac arrhythmia” while being restrained and subdued by police.
Several witnesses for the prosecution previously said Floyd died from low oxygen due to law enforcement restraint. However, the chief medical examiner for Hennepin County who conducted the autopsy told jurors Floyd’s heart disease was a contributing cause of his death.
“The law enforcement subdual and neck compression is just more than Mr. Floyd could take by virtue of his heart conditions,” Dr. Andrew Baker said last week.
A medical expert testifying for the defense took the witness stand Wednesdayin the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, charged in the death of George Floyd.
Dr. David Richard Fowler, a retired forensic pathologist and former head of the medical examiner’s office in Maryland for 17 years, testified for the defense Wednesday.
Fowler said the plaque built up inside Floyd’s arteries and his hypertensive heart disease were the direct cause of death, in his opinion, noting that Floyd had a “sudden cardiac arrhythmia” due to those heart issues while being restrained and subdued by police.
