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Perry Mason couldn’t save him.

Racehorse Haynes could do it. He got T. Cullen Davis off. Twice.

“Say you sue me because you say my dog bit you,” he told the audience. “Well, now this is my defense: My dog doesn’t bite. And second, in the alternative, my dog was tied up that night. And third, I don’t believe you really got bit.” His final defense, he said, would be: “I don’t have a dog.”

This is a difficult case for the prosecution. George Floyd tox screen came back dirty, as expected, with his multiple busts for drugs. It will be difficult to prove that his heart stopped to neck compressions rather than effects of the drugs. The defense need not prove anything; just raise reasonable doubt.

Price v. County of San Diego, 990 F. Supp. 1230 (S.D. Cal. 1998) is a case where Daniel Price died after being restrained by hogtie. The Opinion of the Court is quite interesting.

The obvious question remains, however: What did cause Price's death? The Court finds that, as several expert witnesses testified, he most likely died from a cardiac arrest that occurred during his encounter with the deputies.[18] Numerous factors indicate that methamphetamine-induced toxic delirium caused this cardiac arrest.[19] First, Price had methamphetamine in his system when Dr. Eisele conducted the autopsy, which means that he had recently used it.[20] Second, methamphetamine irritates the heart and makes it more prone to a cardiac arrest. (Eisele Excerpt of Trial Tr. at 25, 27.) Third, Price had "internal derangements" within his heart that chronic methamphetamine abuse could have caused. (Id.) Fourth, methamphetamine can cause the body to release catecholamines (adrenaline) which also can irritate the heart. Dr. Eisele found catecholamines in Price's body. Fifth, Price had been acting in a bizarre fashion, which indicates that he was suffering from a methamphetamine-induced psychosis. (Neuman Excerpt of Trial Tr. at 34-35.) Sixth, Price developed a high fever at the hospital, which methamphetamine-induced toxic delirium frequently causes. (Id. at 36.) Seventh, while in the hospital, Price developed rhabdomyloysis, which is a breakdown of muscle cells. This is also a symptom of methamphetamine-induced toxic delirium.
Dr. Neuman perfectly captured the cause of death when he made the following statement:

We have clear data that there is no respiratory component to the hogtie position. We also have clear data that Price was a chronic methamphetamine abuser. He had essentially all of the signs and symptoms of methamphetamine use, and he died a death that was completely consistent with toxic delirium secondary to methamphetamine use. To suppose anything *1241 else placed a significant role in his death is speculation.

(Id. at 43.)
Moreover, Defendants' expert on methamphetamine abuse, Joseph Shannon, M.D., stated: "The only factor that can explain his death in and of itself was acute methamphetamine intoxication or excited delirium .... This is a highly lethal illness which may well have caused his death regardless of where he was, the restraints used or the struggle involved." (Shannon Excerpt of Trial Tr. at 7.)[21]
Thus, in the words of Dr. Neuman which the Court hereby adopts, "Mr. Price did not asphyxiate due to the hogtie position. Rather, the most obvious cause of death is toxic delirium secondary to methamphetamine abuse, which in turn caused Mr. Price to experience a cardiac arrest." (Neuman Decl. at 13.)

Laughing in your face.

Did Daniel Price die on live video, with numerous witnesses? Read the Probable Cause.

Depraved Indifference is the element for 3rd Degree in Minnesota.

Pulling out a can of mace to prevent bystanders from giving aid?

AND not doing CPR on a handcuffed guy in your custody, after one of your fellow cops has just told you (on video and in front of witnesses) that he doesn't have a pulse?

That's depraved indifference right there, regardless of what caused the heart to stop beating. You are irretrievably utterly and forever wrong.