On Wednesday, The Root reported that Dr. David Fowler, a retired forensic pathologist, testified during day 13 of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial over the death of George Floyd. Fowler said on the stand that he believed Floyd’s death was caused by “sudden cardiac arrhythmia” connected to Floyd’s drug use, hypertension, and generally anything else but Chauvin pressing his knee into the back of a human being’s neck for more than nine minutes.
Well, it turns out that Fowler also happens to be a defendant in a federal lawsuit regarding the police-involved death of another Black man who died under circumstances that were eerily similar to that of Floyd, according to the Associated Press.
Before we get into all that, I just want to take a sec to shout out The Root’s Joe Jurado, who has been covering the trial, for brilliantly explaining why Fowler’s testimony was about as useful as pocketless khakis.
From our previous report:
During its case the prosecution called nearly 40 expert witnesses, most of whom did a solid job explaining their arguments in a detailed and engaging way. For example, Pulmonologist Dr. Martin Tobin did a great job breaking down on a physiological level how the actions of the officers contributed to Floyd suffocating. He made an argument and thoroughly backed it up.
Fowler, on the other hand, didn’t really specialize in any one area, and a few of his assertions were undercut upon cross-examination. He testified that he believed carbon monoxide was a factor in Floyd’s death, but when asked by prosecutor Jerry Blackwell if it was true he had not “seen any data, or test results, that showed Mr. Floyd had a single injury from carbon monoxide,” he responded, “Yes, true.”
Which begs the question: why did he even bring it up as a factor if there was no data to support it?
Anyway, according to AP, Fowler is a defendant in a lawsuit related to the 2018 death of 19-year-old Anton Black, who, according to the Baltimore Sun, “died in the Caroline County town of Greensboro under the crushing weight of three police officers holding him down” while he was handcuffed and prone.
Fowler was the medical examiner who conducted Black’s autopsy, and in the suit—which alleges that the officers caused Black to die of asphyxiation—he is accused of intentionally covering up for the cops by ignoring evidence of asphyxiation and exaggerating other potential factors in order support the official police narrative.
So now, I guess the only question is: How much do you believe in coincidences?
Because boooooooy, when I say it’s beginning to look like the good “doctor’s” only specialty is surgically removing copaganda directly from his asshole.
The thing is, I’m not even saying he’s definitely guilty, but I’m absolutely asking why TF this is the guy Chauvin’s defense chose as their medical “expert” in court this week. His testimony was essentially meritless and his credibility is currently in litigation. It’s almost as if Chauvin’s people have said to hell with putting together a plausible defense and, instead, they’re just waiting for America to do their jobs for them and set their client free—and it might just work.
According to AP, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office is representing Fowler in the suit and earlier this month, it filed a motion to have the suit dismissed, but a hearing on the matter has yet to be scheduled.
DISCUSSION
“instead, they’re just waiting for America to do their jobs for them and set their client free—and it might just work.”
Make no mistake. If Chauvin is convicted, it won’t be because a jury of his peers believes he’s guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
It will be because a jury of his peers made Chauvin fall on his sword—or, given the inevitable light sentence/job waiting for him in some other city’s police force, his safety razor—because “those people will riot if we do what we think is white...er, right.”
On the bright side, this does argue for burning shit to the ground as the best way to achieve even a semblance of justice, and that’s America for you. Failed state.