1 juror excused in federal trial of former Minneapolis officers; ER doctor & toxicologist, BCA forensic scientist testify

The federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights continued on Wednesday.

Before proceedings got underway, Judge Paul Magnuson announced one of the jurors — Juror No. 47 — was excused from the case due to a family health issue and Juror No. 65 would take his place.

Prosecutors then called Dr. Vik Bebarta, an emergency room doctor and toxicologist, who testified that Floyd was suffocated and died from a lack of oxygen. Prosecutors asked Bebarta about any drugs in Floyd’s system, but Bebarta said a blood draw showed only 11 nanograms of fentanyl in Floyd’s system — he noted overdose victims usually have over 40 nanograms — leading him to conclude that Floyd didn’t die from a drug overdose. He also ruled out Floyd dying from a heart attack, based on his autopsy report and what he saw of Floyd in videos from the scene.

The government also asked Bebarta about excited delirium, who said he didn’t see any signs of agitation he’d expect if Floyd experienced excited delirium. Bebarta, like previous witness Dr. David Systrom, also testified that Floyd “would have lived” if he’d been repositioned before losing consciousness.

The defense asked Bebarta more about excited delirium, and he noted it’s “not a diagnosis but it’s a description of symptoms” while agreeing that it’s “not clear to many folks” how the term is used.

The afternoon finished with testimony from BCA Forensic Scientist McKenzie Anderson, who also testified in Derek Chauvin’s trial. Most of Anderson’s testimony was simply the logistics and procedures for examining Floyd’s vehicle. Most significantly, she noted she sent two pills in Floyd’s vehicle that testing showed contained methamphetamine and fentanyl.

The defense is expected to cross-examine Anderson when the trial resumes Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

KSTP Reporter Callan Gray provided live updates of Wednesday’s proceedings below.

Tou Thao’s attorney Robert Paule resumed his cross-examination of Dr. Vik Bebarta, an emergency room doctor and medical toxicologist who teaches at the University of Colorado.

Paule asked a series of drug-related questions. Dr. Bebarta confirmed ‘hooping’ is a slang term for a person taking drugs rectally. Dr. Bebarta later told prosecutors he did not see evidence that Floyd had taken narcotics in that manner.

During the body camera footage, George Floyd can be heard telling officers he was hooping, although it’s unclear what he meant. Floyd was also a basketball player. 

Dr. Bebarta also confirmed he did not hear that commend in the body camera.

The bulk of Paule’s questions focused on excited delirium. He asked Dr. Bebarta to walk through the symptoms, who stated, “[excited delirium is] not a diagnosis.”

Paule asked about two documents the doctor referenced in his report. The first is the American College of Emergency Physicians White Paper Report on Excited Delirium Syndrome. Dr. Bebarta explained, “I cited that and to describe what they list as potential findings, signs and symptoms […].”

He confirmed excited delirium remains controversial and repeated again “it’s not a diagnosis.” Dr. Bebarta also explained, according to the paper, it’s unclear why some cases progress to death while others don’t result in death.

According to Dr. Bebarta, the paper was likely written in 2008 and published in 2009. He testified there have been advancements in law enforcement and medical care as it relates to excited delirium in the 11 years that followed. 

Paule followed up with questions about a second report Dr. Bebarta cited in his paper, which was published in August 2020. The paper is called “The role of restrained in fatal excited delirium: a research synthesis and pooled analysis.”

The defense attorney said, “Doctor I’ve asked you a bunch of questions about excited delirium and clearly you have an expertise in this area […] and just so the jury is clear, this isn’t something I”m making up, this is something that’s been in existence for decades […]” 

Dr. Bebarta confirmed that and said he has seen cases of excited delirium through his work in the emergency room. He reiterated his medical opinion is that Floyd was not in the midst of excited delirium on May 25, 2020, nor was it his cause of death.

As Paule pointed out that police officers do not receive the hours of medical training a physician undergoes, Dr. Bebarta agreed and said, “but for basic life support, they have training in that in checking a pulse and checking for breathing.”

The defense attorney also tried to argue Dr. Bebarta had a differing opinion of Floyd’s cause of death than Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Baker. 

Dr. Bebarta said, however, “we agree on asphyxiation […] he had asphyxiation from neck compression as well and that he did have a cardiopulmonary arrest” 

J. Alexander Kueng’s attorney Thomas Plunkett cross-examined Dr. Bebarta second. He walked the jury through the 55 items the doctor reviewed to complete his report. The doctor confirmed that included the medical examiner’s report, Floyd’s medical records, Cup Foods videos, Facebook videos of the incident, body worn camera footage, state trial expert reports, among other items.

He confirmed to Plunkett he wrote the report at home and at the office, did not have pressure on him while completing the report and was his own boss. 

Dr. Bebarta later told prosecutors those many documents aren’t needed to understand Mr. Floyd needed to be repositioned.

Thomas Lane’s defense attorney Earl Gray focused his questions on the timeline of life-saving measures. He asked “If the paramedics arrive on the scene, and the police are there and they called 911, they take over the medical care correct?” Dr. Bebarta responded, “I think they work in cooperation […]”

The doctor confirmed CPR was started three minutes after paramedics checked for a pulse. He testified that every minute that goes by without CPR decreases the chance of survival by 10 percent. He told the jury the paramedics provided care by loading Floyd onto the ambulance. 

When prosecutors followed up, Dr. Bebarta said, “The time during restraint, Mr. Floyd was being pushed down and suffocated and not provided care […] as opposed to the time when the paramedic arrived, they provided care […].”

Prosecutors called McKenzie Anderson to the stand as its second witness of the day. She is a forensic scientist with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Anderson has also been on the crime scene team for eight years.

She testified that she responded to the scene at 38th and Chicago.

“The initial phone call was pretty brief,” said Anderson. “There was an in-custody death involving the Minneapolis Police Department.”

Anderson told the jury she arrived to the scene just after 1 a.m. on May 26, hours after the incident occurred.

At the scene, she learned, “An employee at Cup Foods had thought that someone was perhaps using counterfeit money so they called 911, officers arrived, they attempted to arrest Mr. Floyd, there was perhaps a little bit of a struggle […] he eventually stopped breathing […].”

Anderson explained she took “a lot” of photos at the scene. She also watched a bystander Facebook video, “that gave us a better idea of where the event actually occurred.”

Prosecutor LeeAnn Bell walked Anderson through various photos from the scene. She testified they towed the squad and Mercedes back to the BCA headquarters to collect evidence because “it’s a more controlled environment.”

Anderson testified the vehicles were stored in a secure garage. When they processed the vehicles on May 27, they took photos of the exteriors and interiors of the vehicles, and took notes on their findings.

Anderson told the jury, “… primarily I as looking for blood just because of the injuries that could’ve been sustained and looking for money or currency that could’ve ben in the vehicles and then any cell phones that were present.” 

She said at the time, she didn’t have information drug-use was suspected in the case. 

Anderson testified she did not collect a pill in the front console of the Mercedes, “I had no information at the time that was relevant […].” She did, however, collect money from the vehicle.

The vehicle was then tape-sealed, according to Anderson.

She testified she collected blood samples and shows, believed to be Floyd’s, from the squad. 

Anderson did not collect white substances found in the squad, “I didn’t know what it was at the time or that it was forensically significant so I didn’t examine it further.”

On Dec. 9, 2020, she testified she received a request from the prosecution to re-examine the Mercedes, to collect pills, gum, currency and Suboxone packets. The request was “not necessarily” unusual. 

Two pills were collected and sent to the BCA lab, which confirmed they contained methamphetamine and fentanyl. 

She searched the squad a second time in January at the request of defense attorneys. Anderson testified that when she re-examined the squad it was no longer tape-sealed, “earlier that morning, the agents had met with defense attorneys to look through the squad so they had already opened it.”

Anderson told the jury she collected several pills, or partial pills, from the back seat of the squad. 

Tweets by CallanGrayNews

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9:30 a.m.

Federal prosecutors are continuing to present their case against the three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights.

Earlier, Juror No. 47 was excused from the trial due to a family health issue. Juror No. 65, one of the alternates, will now fill Juror 47’s seat.

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Testimony in a federal trial for three former Minneapolis police officers is resuming Wednesday.

Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao are charged with depriving George Floyd of his civil rights in the 2020 arrest that resulted in his death.

Kueng and Thao also face an additional charge of depriving Floyd of his civil rights for not helping Floyd. 

Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty in his federal case back in December.

Defense attorneys contend the officers received inadequate training and have challenged statements by officials that Minneapolis officers are not trained to use their knees to pin people down the way Chauvin did.

Wednesday is the tenth day of the trial.

RELATED: KSTP’s full George Floyd coverage

This is a developing story. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS will continue to update it throughout the day as the trial continues.