Maryland will review all cases handled by a former medical examiner who testified that George Floyd could have died from carbon monoxide
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Maryland is initiating a probe into all the cases handled by a former medical examiner who gave an odd testimony on how George Floyd died.
Dr. David Fowler said during the Derek Chauvin trial that Floyd died because of carbon monoxide.
Prosecution witnesses testified Floyd died from a lack of oxygen caused by Chauvin pressing him down into the asphalt ground.
The state of Maryland will probe all the cases handled by a former medical examiner who said the method by which George Floyd died was "undetermined" during the trial against Derek Chauvin.
Dr. David Fowler, a forensic pathologist who testified on the side the defense in the Chauvin trial, said there were too many contributing factors to name the precise reason why Floyd died. Instead, he said Floyd's death was caused by his preexisting heart condition, use of fentanyl and meth, and carbon monoxide he inhaled from a nearby police cruiser.
Floyd died on May 25 after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest. Video of the arrest shows that Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe.
Fowler's testimony differed drastically from that of medical experts called by the prosecution. Dr. Martin Tobin, an expert pulmonologist, testified that "a healthy person subjected to what Mr. Floyd was subjected to would have died."
And Dr. Jonathan Rich, a cardiologist and one of the state's final witnesses, testified Monday that while Floyd had high blood pressure, his heart was "exceptionally strong."
Prosecution witnesses testified that Floyd died from a lack of oxygen caused by being pressed into the asphalt ground with his hands cuffed behind his back, and Chauvin's kneeling on him for more than nine minutes.
None of those witnesses mentioned carbon monoxide from the nearby patrol car as a possible contributing factor.
"We welcome an independent review of reports on deaths in custody issued during David Fowler's tenure, and agree it is appropriate for the Office of the Attorney General to coordinate the workgroup," a spokesperson for Gov. Larry Hogan told The Baltimore Sun.
Fowler was the state's medical chief examiner from 2002 to 2019.
Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison for the second-degree murder charge. He also faces up to 25 years for the third-degree murder charge and up to 10 years for second-degree manslaughter. Because Chauvin was convicted of all charges, he will be sentenced on the top charge of second-degree murder.
Chauvin is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
Insider's Haven Orecchio-Egresitz contributed to this report.
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