Medical expert: Chauvin's knee did not injure Floyd

(Image credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

published 14 April 2021

Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin's attorneys continued their defense on Wednesday, arguing Chauvin's knee on the neck of George Floyd was not what ultimately killed him, reports The Washington Post.

Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died in May 2020 after Chauvin placed him under arrest, restraining him with his knee for more than nine minutes. Experts who testified for the prosecution previously said it was the pressure of Chauvin's knee that killed Floyd via a lack of oxygen, but David Fowler, a former Maryland chief medical examiner, testified Wednesday that none of Floyd's injuries were in areas that Chauvin's knee pressed on.

"The amount of force that was applied to Mr. Floyd was less than enough to bruise him," said Fowler, testifying that "all of Floyd's injuries were in areas that Chauvin's knee did not press on." Fowler concluded that Floyd died of a cardiac arrhythmia due to heart disease, with contributing factors, but criticized the fact that Floyd did not receive immediate medical attention to reverse his cardiac arrest.