The preliminary report from an independent autopsy ordered by George Floyd’s family says the 46 year old man’s death was “caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain”.
The independent examiners found that weight on the back, handcuffs and positioning were contributory factors because they impaired the ability of Floyd’s diaphragm to function, according to the report.
Dr. Michael Baden and the University of Michigan Medical School’s director of autopsy and forensic services, Dr. Allecia Wilson, handled the examination, according to family attorney Ben Crump.
Baden, who was New York’s medical examiner in 1978 and 1979, had previously performed independent autopsies on Eric Garner, who was killed by a police officer in Staten Island, New York, in 2014 and Michael Brown, who was shot by officers in Ferguson, Missouri, that same year.
Apparently I was wrong about carotid obstruction. Also wrong in my (apparently naive) assumption that a coroner would do their job and let the chips fall where they may.
So, so many failures.Report
Has the first coroner testified in any criminal cases?Report
Well, this is a believable result. Really a pity it doesn’t match the first one, doesn’t say much for that one’s professionalism and so forth.Report
But Wait! There’s More!
My nutty conspiracy buddies say that we should keep an eye open as to whether the cop dies of COVID-19-related asphyxiation in his cell during a period in which the guards fail to do their rounds and the cameras get all wonky.
I laughed, of course.Report