HOW DID GEORGE FLOYD DIE?

George Floyd, 46, died handcuffed on the street in the custody of police in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. An officer responding to a report that Mr. Floyd had tried to pass a fake $20 bill held him down by lodging a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

He died shortly after lapsing into unconsciousness… Still unanswered is the question of precisely what caused Mr. Floyd’s death.

What about the autopsy commissioned by the family?

Glenn A. Zeitz, a Philadelphia trial lawyer specializing in civil rights who has worked on several cases that hinged on autopsy results, said the key question will be whether the examiners find that the cause of death was the combined effect of any pre-existing heart condition and coronary artery disease coupled with the restraint by the police and any potential intoxicants in his system — or whether Dr. Baden will find something else.

“He is going to be looking for the things that are consistent with compression to the neck, which causes traumatic asphyxiation or strangulation,” he said. “This is about how this man died, who is responsible and whether the charges are the right charges.”

It remains to be seen whether the private autopsy results will differ substantially from those in the official report.