A KILKENNY doctor who shot to worldwide fame after he testified in the George Floyd case has been hailed as “one of the best legal experts I have ever seen” by a top US trial lawyer.
Pulmonologist Dr Martin Tobin, 69, (pictured) gave evidence for the prosecution that police office Derek Chauvin had, “beyond doubt”, caused Mr Floyd’s death when he knelt on his neck during the notorious incident in Minneapolis in May last year.
The Kilkenny-born specialist was able to pinpoint the moment when Mr Floyd died on mobile phone footage taken by a passer-by.
Mary Moriarty, a chief public defender in Minneapolis, said the Kilkenny native “gave all of us a clinic in plain English” on the pulmonary system during his key testimony.
She said the manner and precision of Dr Tobin’s presentation made it very difficult for Chauvin’s defence to cross-examine him.
Fellow legal expert Prof Joe Daly of Mitchell Hamline School of Law described Tobin as having “a bedside manner in court.
“He could explain everything and he had this very pleasing Irish lilt. He had a very pleasing personality and the way he testified, you trusted him.
“About halfway through his testimony I thought, I’d love this guy to be my doctor.”
Tobin’s hold on the jury was so effective, the defence raised an objection because it appeared jurors were following so closely they were touching their necks during a breathing anatomy lesson.
In his analysis, Tobin said Chauvin continued to apply his weight on Floyd for at least three minutes after there was zero oxygen left in his body.
Watching the video, Tobin identified 8:24:53 p.m. as the moment Floyd died.
He told the court: “That’s the moment the life goes out of his body.”
Martin Tobin, a graduate of UCD, has run a practice in Illinois for more than 20 years and has practised medicine for 40.
Derek Chauvin’s legal team said this week that they would appeal the ’guilty’ mverdict.
Martin Tobin is praised for his evidence in Floyd case
