Judge warns of mistrial in Chauvin case

The judge in the George Floyd case rejected a request by the prosecution on Thursday to enter newly discovered evidence in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin that would have contained information about Floyd’s carbon monoxide content during his arrest, warning of a mistrial if the results were mentioned by their rebuttal witness before the jury.

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell told Judge Peter Cahill on Thursday morning that the state had just received blood gas evidence from Hennepin County medical examiner Andrew Baker, who performed Floyd's autopsy, that contained readings for the carbon monoxide content in his blood on the day it was arrested.

The evidence, Blackwell said, was discovered after a former chief medical examiner called by the defense as an expert witness speculated in court that Floyd could have been exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning when he was pressed to the ground under Chauvin’s restraint near a squad car last May.

Cahill ultimately determined that the evidence would not be allowed to be presented to the jury as the defense geared up to rest its case in the trial, which entered its fourteenth day on Thursday. Cahill warned of a mistrial if the state’s rebuttal witness, Martin Tobin, discussed the evidence when he was expected to take the stand later.

“The defense gave notice that this was going to be an issue and specifically talked about testing the sample,” Cahill said.

“Even if it's just because Dr. Baker called the state and said, ‘We, we can actually find this at eight o'clock this morning,’ when the defense expert is done testifying, has left the state,” he said, referring to Fowler.

“If he even hints that there are test results, the jury has not heard about, it's going to be a mistrial, pure and simple. This late disclosure is not the way we should be operating here,” the judge also said.

However, the judge said Tobin would be allowed to add information about carbon monoxide in regards to environmental factors when he takes the stand. LINK