A judge has granted permission to former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s defense team to examine George Floyd’s autopsy report, heart tissue, and fluids. This court order comes as part of Chauvin’s appeal, which aims to test a new theory surrounding Floyd’s cause of death.
In 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murdering Floyd by a jury.
The killing of Floyd in May 2020 ignited global protests against police brutality. In a video, Chauvin, a white police officer, was seen pinning Floyd, a black man, to the ground by placing his knee on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes during an arrest. Floyd pleaded with the officers, stating that he couldn’t breathe, before eventually losing consciousness and later passing away.
Chauvin’s new defense team is putting forth an argument that Floyd’s death was not caused by Chauvin’s knee on his neck, but rather by a heart condition. They are relying on the upcoming examinations to support their case.
The examination could potentially serve as evidence in Chauvin’s appeal, as Chauvin argues that his lawyer, Eric Nelson, provided ineffective counsel during the trial.
In court documents, it is mentioned that Chauvin’s new attorney, Robert Meyers, claims that a forensic pathologist from Kansas contacted Nelson and provided an opinion stating that Floyd’s cause of death was a catecholamine crisis, also known as acute heart failure.
According to reports, Nelson allegedly did not consult with the doctor or conduct any tests on samples of Floyd’s heart tissue to substantiate the theory.
In August, federal prosecutors argued that Nelson deliberately chose to disregard what they deemed an “untested opinion.”
Derek Chauvin is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. If his attempt to overturn his federal conviction fails, he will be incarcerated until at least 2038.