Maryland’s former chief medical examiner, subject of lawsuit, testifies in Chauvin’s defense
Glynis Kazanjian
April 14, 2021,
Maryland’s former chief medical examiner testified for the defense in the Minneapolis murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with killing George Floyd. Dr. David Fowler’s testimony comes at the same time he’s being accused of helping to cover up the police’s role in the 2018 in-custody death of Anton Black, a Black 19-year-old from the Eastern Shore.
Anton Black’s family told WTOP ahead of Fowler’s testimony the two cases are eerily similar.
“It’s surreal that you have two men on the opposite sides of the country that experienced almost the same treatment by two different police officers,” said LaToya Holley, Black’s sister. “The medical examiner, in my opinion, was egregious in the way he finalized Anton’s autopsy results. Now, he’s being called to be an expert witness for another police officer.”
Fowler, Maryland’s chief medical examiner from 2002-2019, was called to the stand Wednesday morning during Chauvin’s trial.
In December, Fowler was named a defendant in a lawsuit brought by Black’s family. The lawsuit, led by the ACLU of Maryland, personally names Fowler, along with the state medical examiner’s office, several police agencies and police officers. It accuses him of concealing law enforcement’s role in Black’s death, which the lawsuit claims was at the hands of the police.
Specifically, the ACLU accuses Fowler and the medical examiner’s office of obstructing the officer-involved death investigation by delaying the release of an autopsy for months, being improperly influenced by police and clearing the path for police to “develop a narrative that absolved the involved officers of their wrongdoing.”
Asked about Fowler’s role in the Minneapolis trial, “We don’t find Dr. Fowler a credible witness by any stretch of the imagination because he’s consistent in his autopsies where he wants to assist the officers in demonizing and criminalizing Blacks who are killed by police,” Rene Swafford, an attorney on the Black family legal team, said in an interview with WTOP.
more:
http://wtop.com/maryland/2021/04/marylands-former-chief-medical-examiner-subject-of-lawsuit-to-testify-in-chauvins-defense/
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