Doctor ruled out drug use being the cause of George Floyd’s death

Pulmonologist and intensive care expert Martin Tobin said on Thursday that George Floyd died of “low oxygen” when former policeman Derek Chauvin immobilized him and limited his ability to breathe and ensured that drug use by the deceased was irrelevant in the death.

The expert’s statements focused on the ninth day of the trial against Chauvin for the death of African American Floyd, held at the Hennepin County courthouse in Minneapolis, where the events took place.

Tobin thus supported the statements of the prosecution, which maintains that the victim died during his detention by the former agent, and rejected the defense argument, which attempts to link the death to the fentanyl and methamphetamine found in Floyd’s body, reported The New York Times.

“A healthy person subjected to what Floyd was subjected to would be dead,” said the doctor, who discussed in detail and with footage of the arrest of the deceased, even going so far as to identify when ” life leaves his body ”.

Yes indeed, highlighted four main reasons for Floyd’s death, Chauvin’s left knee on his neck, his lying position, the ex-agent’s right knee on his back, arm and sideand the pressure of handcuffs.

The combination of all of this limited the breathing capacity of Floyd, who the doctor said died from the pressure from Chauvin.

The expert also highlighted the deceased’s attempts to try to breathe due to his lack of oxygen due to Chauvin’s pressure., who knelt on Floyd for three more minutes after losing oxygen from his body, reported CNN.

On the other hand, Tobin ruled out drug use as one of the causes of death and insisted that Floyd seemed to be breathing “at a normal rate” before passing out, because, in his opinion, he was losing consciousness. he had overdosed, his breathing rate would have slowed.

Louisville Metropolitan Police Department surgeon Bill Smock also testified on Thursday, reiterating that Floyd “died of positional asphyxiation, which is a fancy way of saying he died because he ran out of oxygen in his body”.

Smock also pointed out that the deceased was alert during the event and that this indicated he was not suffering from an overdose.

On another side, Forensic toxicologist Daniel Isenschmid shared facts about fentanyl and methamphetamine with the jury, the two substances found in Floyd’s system after his death.

Isenshmid reported that 11 nanograms per milliliter of fentanyl and 19 nanograms per milliliter of methamphetamine were found in Floyd’s body.

Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American citizen, died on May 25, 2020 after complaining that he could not breathe due to Chauvin’s knee on his neck, footage which was recorded on video.. The police response arose out of the fact that Floyd made a payment with a fake $ 20 bill.

Chauvin was kicked out of the police force soon after and released on bail after being charged with murder and ill-treatment. Three other police officers face charges of complicity in the commission of the alleged crime. All will be judged in August.

The event sparked a wave of protests against police violence and racism across the United States in 2020.

With information from Europa Press

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