Maryland to investigate Derek Chauvin defense witness’ tenure as state’s chief medical examiner

Maryland officials will conduct an investigation into all deaths that happened in police custody that were overseen by the state’s former chief medical examiner, who testified as a defense witness in the trial for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, Maryland attorney general and governor’s offices announced Friday. Chauvin was convicted last week of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd,

Dr. David Fowler, who was Maryland’s chief medical examiner from 2002 to 2019 and is now a member of a consulting firm, testified that the primary cause of Floyd’s death was a sudden heart rhythm disturbance during police restraint due to underlying heart disease.

The announcement of the investigation came from Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Friday, less than 24 hours after the Attorney General’s Office received a letter from Washington, D.C.’s former chief medical examiner Roger Mitchell, and signed by 431 doctors from around the country, saying Fowler’s conclusions were so far outside the bounds of accepted forensic practice that all his previous work could come into question.

“Dr. Fowler’s stated opinion that George Floyd’s death during active police restraint should be certified with an ‘undetermined’ manner is outside the standard practice and conventions for investigating and certification of in-custody deaths,” the letter said. “This stated opinion raises significant concerns for his previous practice and management.”

This is retribution.

A bunch of doctors don’t like that a fellow colleague agreed to be an expert witness for the defense and so wrote a letter to have the governor destroy his career.

The purpose of this is clear, silence experts who agree to work for the defense in high profile and contentious cases.

Without the ability to call witness, a defendant cannot adequately defend himself.

This is on the heels of the vandalism of the former house of the use-of-force expert for the defense. 

These people are utterly destroying the court system. This is full on Klan tactics.

They are taking the jury box, you know what box comes next.