Former police officer Derek Chauvin’s lawyers took the wrong approach in cross-examining the prosecution’s expert, civil rights attorney David Henderson said Thursday.
“They didn’t do any harm,” Henderson told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith.” ‘You don’t try arm wrestling with a gorilla. This doctor is very clearly qualified, he knows more about medical matters than you. ‘
Dr. Martin Tobin, the Prosecution’s expert medical witness, is a renowned lung specialist who works in the intensive care unit. He concluded that “Floyd died from low oxygen levels.” Tobin’s testimony came on the ninth day of Chauvin’s murder trial.
Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, suggested that Tobin’s report captured only a small portion of what happened during George Floyd’s arrest last May.
Henderson explained that instead of focusing on the medical details, the Chauvin defense team failed to obtain an “in” that Tobin gave them during the testimony.
The Chicago-based physician said there were four key factors that contributed to Floyd’s asphyxiation. He said that Floyd “was prone on the street, that he has the handcuffs in place with the street, that he has one knee on his neck and one knee on his back and on his side.”
Henderson added that Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck was just one of those factors.
“There are three other factors, since Derek Chauvin’s knee has to be the substantial contributing factor, that’s where you should have a cross-examination,” Henderson said. “There are three other ways that could have caused George Floyd’s death that cannot be directly attributed [Chauvin]
Henderson, a former prosecutor and CNBC employee, also said Tobin effectively “squashed” the defense’s claim that drugs – especially fentanyl – could have caused George Floyd’s death.
Chauvin’s defense team did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.