The Justice Department has asked the court to block an attempt by Derek Chauvin’s lawyers to re-examine George Floyd’s heart.
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota filed a motion Tuesday asking a judge to reconsider his decision to allow Chauvin’s legal team to look at Floyd’s heart tissue and body fluids, among other things, to prove whether he actually died of heart disease.
The day before, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson ruled that the former officer’s team could examine the deceased man’s autopsy report.
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota argued that the request “arises solely from an email (Chauvin) received from an unvetted physician offering a weaker version of the medical defense than the one previously presented to the jury had rejected during his state trial. .’
The doctor, Kansas forensic pathologist William Schaetzel, contacted Chauvin’s team after he entered his plea and suggested Floyd did not die because the officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.
Chauvin’s latest attempt to have his conviction vacated uses “ineffective assistance of counsel” from original defense attorney Eric Nelson, who he says failed to convey to him Schaetzel’s theory that Chauvin did not cause Floyd’s death.
Minnesota prosecutors argued that Chauvin’s team’s choice not to examine Floyd’s heart during the trial was a “strategic decision that courts have recognized as ‘virtually indisputable.’
“And even if (the) defendant could demonstrate unreasonable performance, he would not be able to demonstrate prejudice based on counsel’s decisions,” they wrote.
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota filed a motion Tuesday asking a judge to reconsider his decision to allow Derek Chauvin’s legal team to look at George Floyd’s heart to prove whether he actually died of heart disease.
The day before, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson ordered that the former officer’s team be allowed to examine the deceased man’s autopsy report. Dr. William Schaetzel contacted Chauvin’s team after he entered his plea and suggested Floyd did not die from kneeling on his neck.
“It defies belief that, had (the) defendant been aware of a weaker medical defense theory than the one already rejected by his state jury, he would have opted for retrial despite the overwhelming evidence and a life sentence from the guidelines. ‘
Prosecutors also argued that Dr. Andrew Baker, who performed Floyd’s autopsy, testified during the trial that he did not believe the man’s paraganglioma — a benign tumor found in Floyd’s pelvis — had anything to do with his death.
“I looked at it under the microscope,” he testified.
“The most likely diagnosis is paraganglioma, but I have no reason to believe this has anything to do with Mr. Floyd’s death.”
Prosecutors added: “A discovery based on the opinion of Dr. Schaetzel would not change the reasonableness of (Chauvin’s) choices.”
On Monday, Judge Magnuson ruled that “given the significant nature of the criminal case for which Mr. Chauvin was convicted,” there was “good cause to allow Mr. Chauvin to make the discovery he sought.”
Legal experts also agree that Chauvin should be allowed to attend the autopsy.
Former Philadelphia prosecutor David Gelman said Fox News: ‘Chauvin must be given every opportunity to exhaust his appeal, just like any other defendant. If this had been a different case, I bet the Department of Justice would not have objected.”
Prosecutors argued that the request “arises solely from an email (Chauvin) received from an unvetted physician offering a weaker version of the medical defense than the one the jury previously rejected at his state trial.”
The May 2020 encounter sparked rapid public outrage because Floyd was an unarmed black man charged with a non-violent crime.
The North Carolina resident was suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill, leading to the fatal collision with Chauvin and three other officers.
In an attempt to restrain Floyd, Chauvin knelt on his neck and back for what officials would later consider 9 minutes and 29 seconds, fatally choking him.
In his final moments, Floyd spoke the words “I can’t breathe,” creating a rallying cry for another civil rights movement in the process.
Chauvin was convicted the following year and is now just over three years into his 21-year federal prison sentence.
After his conviction, he was stabbed 22 times by a Mexican gangster in federal prison in 2023.
John Turscak, 52, was charged with attempted murder after attacking Chauvin in the prison library with a “makeshift knife.”
He reportedly told investigators he chose the day after Thanksgiving because of its symbolic connection to the Black Lives Matter movement, which was sparked in part by Floyd’s killing.