Derek Chauvin’s conviction stemmed from his actions during the 2020 arrest in Minnesota, where he knelt on George Floyd’s neck, resulting in Floyd’s death.
A Minnesota judge has granted Derek Chauvin’s legal team access to George Floyd’s heart tissue and fluid samples in an effort to overturn Chauvin’s 2020 conviction. Chauvin is currently serving a 21-year federal sentence for civil rights violations and a more than 22-year state sentence for Floyd’s second-degree murder. The incident, involving Chauvin’s restraint of Floyd, sparked widespread condemnation and unrest globally.
In November 2023, Chauvin’s legal team filed a motion challenging his federal conviction, arguing that his initial defense counsel failed to inform him of Dr. William Schaetzel’s theories suggesting Chauvin’s actions were not the cause of Floyd’s death.
Judge Paul Magnuson ruled on Monday to allow the defense access to Floyd’s heart tissue samples and bodily fluids. Schaetzel hypothesizes that Floyd’s death might have resulted from high catecholamine levels or Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a stress-induced heart condition.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s initial report indicated Floyd suffered from severe arteriosclerotic heart disease and hypertension. The death was ruled a homicide, attributed to “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression.” The report also noted the presence of fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd’s blood.
Chauvin and three other officers involved in the arrest were convicted in connection with Floyd’s death.
Last year, while incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, Chauvin was stabbed 22 times by a fellow inmate using a makeshift weapon. The inmate stated his motive was to kill Chauvin on Black Friday, symbolically linking it to the Black Lives Matter movement. Chauvin was hospitalized and later transferred to a different prison.