The prosecutors closing argument is having Dr. Tobin declare Floyd's O2 level was 98% when taken at the hospital... to discredit the carbon monoxide theory.
Is that normal for an asphyxiation victim? To my laymind, that would imply the lungs were working until the point the heart wasn't.
Yeah, that sounded pretty strange to me as well. There are some folks on Twitter (e.g. Posobiec) who use this as proof positive, but I am not sure they know what they are talking about.
Yeah, I'm having trouble finding literature on o2 levels of asphyxiation victims. Perhaps ventilation and chest compressions raised levels after he was headed to the hospital. Still, 98% is pretty good. Really good for getting choked out, I'd think.
E:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9248039/
Pretty sure they said finger stick for the blood draw, so not exact, but it would seem asphyxiation does have a common sense effect on O2 levels.
Tobin mentioned it was an arterial blood gas test taken
postmortemin the ER, which are generally done from the arm. And yes, not choked out. Positional asphyxia was the defenses entire case, which was a constriction of his lungs that prevented proper oxygenation.Hope they don't let this slip by. The defense has been pretty atrocious.
Edit: Not postmortem
Well, the media has certainly sold this as a nearly slam dunk win for the prosecution. It's gonna be epic if Chauvin gets off. Which he should. There was good cause for reasonable doubt before this, despite the defenses ineptitude.
"This means nothing! Floyd was a superior specimen whose brain did not burn oxygen! Any loss of O2 from his blood was the result of him farting out pure, breathable oxygen from his bloodstream, against his will. A knee on the back would make anyone fart!I it's the racism!"
Prosecution: Lack of O2 was the cause of death directly as a result of the deadly prone position.
Defense: CO could have contributed to his death.
Prosecution: Nah, he had plenty of O2 which means he couldn't have had significant CO because they bind to the same hemoglobin!
Biggest okie dokie in legal history?
... I was probably walking around with a lot less than that before I quit smoking/before the hospital sucked 32 years of tar out of my lungs.