EXPLAINER: 'Excited delirium' and George Floyd

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The issue of whether George Floyd was suffering from the disputed condition of “excited delirium” the day he was killed resurfaced Wednesday at the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with depriving him of his civil rights.

Police arrested Floyd outside a corner store on May 25, 2020, for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill to pay for cigarettes. A panicky-sounding Floyd struggled and said he was claustrophobic as officers tried to shove the 46-year-old Black man into a police vehicle. After officers pinned Floyd to the ground, rookie Thomas Lane can be heard on body camera video saying he's concerned Floyd might be experiencing excited delirium.

The defense for former Officer Derek Chauvin argued during his murder trial last year that the condition is real, and that Chauvin acted reasonably when he pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for about 9 1/2 minutes to restrain him, even as Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and eventually became limp.

Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter. He pleaded guilty in November to a federal civil rights charge. Now, Lane and former Officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng are on trial, charged broadly with depriving Floyd of his civil rights while acting under government authority.

HOW HAS EXCITED DELIRIUM COME UP IN THIS TRIAL?

It came up during the testimony of Derek Smith, a paramedic dispatched to the scene. Robert Paule, an attorney for Thao, asked Smith whether he was concerned about excited delirium — an agitated state in which someone is described as having extraordinary strength.

Smith acknowledged the dispute over whether excited delirium is a real condition, but indicated that he believes it is and has dealt with it. Smith said he did not observe it in Floyd, who...