“It is not clear that the pressure applied by Chauvin caused Floyd to lose consciousness, or that it caused any serious physical injury. “
If I and my three buddies were to handcuff a person and continue a sleeper hold three minutes after loss of consciousness and no pulse ...
Whatever.
If I and my three buddies were to handcuff a person and continue a sleeper hold three minutes after loss of consciousness and no pulse ...Whatever.
If you and your three buddies did that to a dead body that succumbed to a heart attack, it would neither be murder nor manslaughter.
Continuing a sleeper hold implies there was a sleeper hold for the first five minutes while Floyd continued to speak.
Not only were no physical findings to support traumatic asphyxia or strangulation found, but the report finds clogged coronary arteries, and high blood pressure, and potential intoxicants, and the police restraint action likely contributed to Floyd's death. Were death caused by pressure to the carotids cutting off blood supply to the brain, it does not seem that clogged coronary arteries or high blood pressure would likely contribute to the cause of death. All of the cited factors could well contribute to the cause of death if it were a heart attack.
If the cause was heart attack, then officer Chauvin's actions may not have been what rendered Floyd unconscious, and there would be a lack of evidence of incorrect applied pressure or blocking off the carotids. Also, Floyd may have been dead very shortly after he became unresponsive from a heart attack or arrythmia. One cannot kill a dead person, so any act after the time of death cannot be murder or homicide. Much of the time that the restraint continued after Floyd became non-responsive may have involved a dead person.
The final report with cause of death is needed to assess criminality.