In-custody deaths: Did Maryland’s former medical examiner wrongfully favor police? A review is necessary

David Fowler, Maryland’s former longtime chief medical examiner, drew national attention recently when he testified in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted on murder and manslaughter charges for killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than 9 minutes last May. It was Dr. Fowler’s opinion that the victim died not of a lack of oxygen, as Minnesota medical experts had explained, but by a suddenly erratic heartbeat brought on, in part, by breathing in carbon monoxide fumes from a nearby vehicle exhaust. Given the overwhelming nature of the prosecutorial evidence, including a video of Mr. Floyd repeatedly pleading that he could not breathe, this struck even the most casual observer as somewhat suspect. But, some fear, it may have been much worse than that.