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"Law enforcement subdual restraint and neck compression was just more than Mr. Floyd could take," Hennepin County Medical Examiner Andrew Baker said on April 9. (Video: Blair Guild/The Washington Post)

Restraint, neck compression were ‘more than Mr. Floyd could take,’ medical examiner testifies

The second week of Derek Chauvin’s trial came to a close with one of its most-anticipated witnesses on the stand — the medical examiner who performed an autopsy on George Floyd last year, ruling his death a homicide.

Hennepin County Medical Examiner Andrew Baker testified Friday that he thinks the stress of Floyd’s arrest overwhelmed his already-overburdened heart and “tipped him over the edge.”  
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Prosecutors have called up expert after expert who blamed police officers’ use of force. Lindsey Thomas, a consulting forensic pathologist in Minneapolis, testified Friday that Floyd’s death was “due to the activities of law enforcement officers,” said there was no evidence that Floyd suffered a heart attack, and sarcastically rejected the defense’s reference to arrests by Canadian police.
Chauvin defense attorney Eric J. Nelson focused on Floyd’s heart condition and the drugs in his system while cross-examining Baker.
Baker said he “intentionally” chose not to watch any videos of Floyd’s arrest and death before conducting the autopsy.
Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell pushed back on the defense’s use of a hypothetical: “Aren’t those questions a lot like asking Mrs. Lincoln: ‘If we take John Wilkes Booth out of this …’ ”
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Prosecutors have called up expert after expert who blamed police officers’ use of force. Lindsey Thomas, a consulting forensic pathologist in Minneapolis, testified Friday that Floyd’s death was “due to the activities of law enforcement officers,” said there was no evidence that Floyd suffered a heart attack, and sarcastically rejected the defense’s reference to arrests by Canadian police.
Chauvin defense attorney Eric J. Nelson focused on Floyd’s heart condition and the drugs in his system while cross-examining Baker.
Baker said he “intentionally” chose not to watch any videos of Floyd’s arrest and death before conducting the autopsy.
Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell pushed back on the defense’s use of a hypothetical: “Aren’t those questions a lot like asking Mrs. Lincoln: ‘If we take John Wilkes Booth out of this …’ ”
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