Defense Lawyer Says George Floyd Ingested Lethal Amount of Fentanyl

A man cycles past a mural depicting George Floyd in Berlin, Germany, on May 30, 2020. David Gannon/AFP/Getty Images

The attorney for one of four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd said charges should be dropped, arguing that Floyd allegedly died from a drug overdose.

Thomas Lane is facing charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter during Floyd’s May 25 death.

Earl Gray, his attorney, filed a motion in court that alleged Floyd contributed to his own death by consuming a lethal dose of fentanyl, Fox9 in Minneapolis reported.

(L-R) Former Minneapolis Police Department officers Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao, in booking photos. Hennepin County Sheriff's Office via AP

“All he had to do is sit in the police car, like every other defendant who is initially arrested. While attempting to avoid his arrest, all by himself, Mr. Floyd overdosed on Fentanyl,” Gray wrote in the motion. “Given his intoxication level, breathing would have been difficult at best. Mr. Floyd’s intentional failure to obey commands, coupled with his overdosing, contributed to his own death.”

In his argument, Gray said bodycamera footage from Lane showed that Floyd had a “white spot on the left side of his tongue” that appears to show “2 milligrams of fentanyl, a lethal dose.”

Gray stated that when Floyd turns his head away between 20:09:45 and 20:09:48 in the video, the white spot is gone.

According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office (pdf), “fentanyl intoxication” contributed to the 46-year-old Minneapolis man’s death. Other contributing factors include arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease and “recent methamphetamine use.”

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, left, in a booking photograph. Chauvin, when still an officer, right. Hennepin County Jail; Darnella Frazier via AP

His cause of death was listed as “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression,” while his manner of death was listed by the office as “homicide.” Other reports said that he previously contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Independent investigators hired by the Floyd family said he died in a homicide at the scene of the incident as a result of officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck, which was depicted in a now-viral video and sparked months of nationwide unrest.

Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, while two other officers identified as Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng were charged with aiding and abetting.