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Disputed Cause of Death in the George Floyd Case
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office released a one-page summary report Monday of its autopsy of George Floyd. It supports my speculation, which I first stated on Friday (comment five here) that Mr. Floyd died of a heart attack. This conclusion has been disputed by medical examiners hired by the lawyers representing Mr. Floyd’s family, which concludes that Mr. Floyd was asphyxiated due to compression of the neck and the back.
The findings of the Hennepin County ME (here), in full, are:
Cause of death: Cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression
Manner of death: Homicide
How injury occurred: Decedent experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s)
Other significant conditions: Arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use
It appears that “cardiopulmonary arrest” is synonymous with “cardiac arrest” (here).
My terminology was not technically accurate. I use the term “heart attack” as a synonym for “cardiac arrest,” which is not correct. A “heart attack” (called a “myocardial infarction”) is the death of heart tissue resulting from a blockage of blood flow, which can then cause “cardiac arrest.” “Cardiac arrest” is the term meaning, essentially, that the heart stops beating. It can have multiple causes other than a “heart attack,” including arrhythmia, congestive heart failure, hypovolemic shock, overdose, and drowning (among others).
The report of fentanyl intoxication is new (I think). Previous reports, principally based on the 911 call, indicated that Mr. Floyd was drunk. The degree of fentanyl intoxication is not given, and it does not say that Mr. Floyd either was, or was not, intoxicated with alcohol. Based on the Hennepin County ME report, he was either not drunk, or if he was, the ME did not find it to be a significant condition.
I have not seen a written report by the MEs hired by the Floyd family lawyers, and I would appreciate a link if anyone has it. They apparently released their results in a news conference and a memo by the lawyers. Here is a CBS News article describing their findings. Here are a couple of key excerpts:
- “He couldn’t breathe — asphyxia due to compression of the neck and the back,” Dr. Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner of New York City, told reporters in a videoconference. “And that’s homicidal.”
- “The autopsy shows that Mr. Floyd had no underlying medical problems that caused or contributed to his death,” Baden said. “He was in good health.”
If you want to reach a conclusion, you will have to make your own decision regarding the credibility of these experts. I am troubled by Dr. Baden’s statement that Mr. Floyd “was in good health,” which does not seem consistent with the Hennepin County ME’s report of arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use. However, in the absence of a written report, it remains possible that Dr. Baden might agree about the presence of these conditions, but have concluded that they did not cause or contribute to Mr. Floyd’s death.
My initial assessment is that this will make it quite difficult for the prosecutors to prove their homicide case against Ofc. Chauvin. The Hennepin County ME’s brief summary report did conclude that the cause of death was homicide, but this is without details. It does seem quite plausible to me that the interaction between the officers and Mr. Floyd was the thing that triggered his cardiac arrest. I think it will be more difficult to tie that death to any allegedly wrongful actions by the officers, as they were justified in arresting and restraining him. They may have used excessive and unjustified force, but if so, I think that the homicide case would require proof that it was the allegedly wrongful, incremental force that caused the death. I suspect that such proof will be quite difficult in the circumstances, especially using the standard of proof — beyond a reasonable doubt — that applies in a criminal prosecution.
I expect that the Floyd family, and its lawyers, will have a significantly better chance of persuading a jury of the cause of death in a civil suit, in which the standard of proof will be a preponderance of the evidence (probably — I haven’t checked Minnesota law on this point, but this is the usual standard of proof in such cases).
Published in Policing
Maybe the hostility of the Democrat power structure of Minnesota and Minneapolis make it harder to recruit officers. Baltimore, last I heard, was at about 50% of required strength.
I don’t think knee pressure on the neck is the indicated first aid for a heart attack.
I have been under the impression for my entire life that watching someone commit a crime and failing to attempt to prevent such crime makes you an accessory. The attending officers simply watched and are culpable but the only good guys here are the bystanders on the sidewalk were telling him to stop in an attempt to prevent it. By the way, how about the guy who shot the video we’ve all watched over and over? What was he doing to stop it?
Unfortunately, purchased expert medical testimony is readily available. Just to be clear I haven’t read any of the medical examiners reports-but I can tell you sleazy attorneys have unethical doctors at their disposal. A few years ago I was in an airport, awaiting a delayed flight. Sitting nearby were 2 attorneys openly discussing a medical malpractice suit in my subspeciality. When discussing the need for a supporting expert witness, one lawyer said “ don’t worry we have Dr Joe X and he will testify to anything”( name redacted by me- but I know him personally-and his name is distinctive). So don’t be surprised if there is conflicting claims by “medical experts”.
Worth noting that the family was initially demanding first degree murder, but that requires it to be willful and premeditated. They were more impressed by the idea than by the law. The finding on their part that he was asphyxiated will be hard to make as well. Case in point, the Salem Witch trials in which one Giles Corey was convicted and sentenced to death by pressing. It is a form of torture wherein weights are pile on the victim until death occurs. In Corey’s case, he lasted three days. The eight minutes Floyd experienced would hardly seem to do the job. He was also face down in the pictures I have seen.
I should note that something was left out, and the portion quoted is mine, not Michael’s.
I’m wondering if Baden’s statement that bruises on the neck area–some evidence of the degree of force used by Chauvin-is clinical evidence.
So how is that an autopsy? Without seeing the body?
Baden has a history with Crump. He doesn’t have to lie, just shade the truth. I have a long history with coroners and have some stories in my book.
I don’t think that it’s unusual for “experts” to “shade the truth.” I have my doubts that someone of the stature of Baden would shade it to the point of a knowing untruth. He may be wrong, but I’d prefer to think he isn’t a liar.
I had another thought about the George Floyd situation, and would like your feedback.
One of the strange things about the encounter was the fact that Mr. Floyd and the officers ended up on the passenger side of the cop car, which was the side facing traffic. They started on the driver side, on the sidewalk, which was clearly the safer side.
My proposed explanation is that the issue was Mr. Floyd’s height. I’ve read a media report that he was 6’6″, though I don’t rely on this. The autopsy will ultimately tell us his height and weight. He certainly towered over the officers, and he was resisting being put in the back of the cop car. It’s hard to see this on the video, as all that you can really see are bobbing heads. I don’t think that he was resisting violently, but they were unable to get him into the cop car from the driver side, which wouldn’t have been hard if he was cooperating.
The sidewalk was probably elevated about 5 inches higher than the roadway. It would be easier to get Mr. Floyd into the cop car from the roadway, at a lower level. This is my speculation about why they moved to the other side of the cop car.
I’d like to see an actual written report from Dr. Baden. He does have a distinguished background, I think.
I’m not sure whether Dr. Baden had no evidence of neck and back compression except the video. Did he say that? It is possible that there could be other evidence, which hasn’t yet been detailed.
One thought that I’ve had is that the MEs would have done a careful examination of Mr. Floyd’s face and neck. If Ofc. Chauvin was putting a great deal of weight on Mr. Floyd’s neck, I would have expected skin wounds from being pressed against the pavement. It seems possible that the expertise of a good ME could deduce from such wounds, or their absence, something about the degree of neck compression applied.
Actually, he was in the car but resisting so they pulled him out for whatever reason. I guess to calm him down, and that they did.
Thanks for the new video link. I hadn’t seen this before. It does show that they got Mr. Floyd into the vehicle.
It looks to me like he was partially in, but they were having trouble getting him all the way in. It looks like one officer remained on the driver side, and was pushing pretty hard to keep him in. Ofc. Chauvin went to the other side (passenger side) and opened the door, maybe to try to pull him in. Then it looks like Mr. Floyd went right across the seat and out the passenger side door.
You cannot see what is going on inside the cop car itself, in this video. You can see the actions of the officers, outside the cop car on both sides.
I have another comment on this new video, which was apparently obtained by someone named “Shaun King” who is identified as an “activist.”
This camera has an excellent angle for most of the encounter, much better than the Dragon Wok video that was released previously. The angle is poor to show the events after Mr. Floyd was on the ground on the passenger side of the cop car.
Once again, this video is edited. It is a very short clip. It appears to be a surveillance-type camera, probably on the Cup Foods building, so there should be much more of this video both before and after.
Selective editing continues to be a big problem.
Does anyone know why Floyd was being restrained in the first place? Was he resisting arrest? I can’t seem to find that anywhere.
Anything that comes from Shaun King must be verified from somewhere else. Do not trust him.
Science!
I have seen a video of him on TV saying that he watched the video and used that for his conclusion. There is now discussion that Floyd may have swallowed drugs, including fentanyl, to avoid a possession charge when he was arrested. There is apparent overheard discussion among the cops on his behavior and drugs. If fentanyl is found on toxicology, all hell is going to break loose.
As if it hasn’t already?
The official autopsy report from the county clearly states he had fentanyl in his system as well as meth.