Court Greenlights Testing George Floyd's Heart Tissue in Bid to Prove New Cause of Death
Derek Chauvin's attorneys received court approval on Monday to examine heart tissue from George Floyd, as the former Minneapolis police officer seeks to challenge his federal civil rights conviction.
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson granted the request filed last week by Chauvin’s legal team to access Floyd’s heart tissue and fluid samples, according to an Associated Press report.
“Given the significant nature of the criminal case that Mr. Chauvin was convicted of, and given that the discovery that Mr. Chauvin seeks could support Dr. Schaetzel’s opinion of how Mr. Floyd died, the Court finds that there is good cause to allow Mr. Chauvin to take the discovery that he seeks,” Magnuson stated in his order, as reported by The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Chauvin's legal team is now authorized to examine histology slides, tissue samples, tissue blocks, and autopsy tissue sections of Floyd's heart. Additionally, they are permitted to make copies of photographs taken of Floyd’s heart.
The former officer is working to overturn his conviction, arguing that Eric Nelson, his initial defense attorney, failed to obtain critical evidence related to Floyd's heart tissue.
Chauvin claims Dr. William Schaetzel, a forensic pathologist from Topeka, Kansas, alerted Nelson to the possibility that Floyd suffered from takotsubo cardiomyopathy, but Nelson did not pursue this lead.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, often referred to as "broken-heart syndrome," is a condition that can occur during periods of extreme emotional or physical stress, according to Harvard Health Publishing.
Last year, Chauvin requested a new trial, or at minimum, an evidentiary hearing to investigate findings related to Floyd’s heart.
The autopsy revealed Floyd had a high concentration of fentanyl in his system at the time of his death, raising questions about whether an overdose, rather than asphyxiation, could have been the cause.
Chauvin was infamously filmed pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck during an arrest attempt in May 2020. The incident led to Floyd’s death and sparked nationwide protests, many of which escalated into riots causing widespread property damage.
Judge Magnuson sentenced Chauvin to over 20 years in federal prison on federal civil rights charges, in addition to his state murder conviction in 2021.
Currently, Chauvin is represented by Robert Meyers, an assistant federal defender in Minneapolis, as he continues his legal battle.
The death of George Floyd brought immediate nationwide attention and catalyzed a controversial social justice movement that continues to reverberate across the country.