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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) 鈥� An audit of Maryland autopsies has uncovered at least 36 in-custody police deaths that should have been considered homicides, state officials announced Thursday following a comprehensive review of such cases spurred by widespread concerns about the former state medical examiner鈥檚 testimony in the death of George Floyd.

Gov. Wes Moore and other state officials announced their findings at a news conference.

鈥淭he findings of this audit are deeply concerning,鈥� Moore said.

Investigators focused on 87 autopsies performed during the tenure of Dr. David Fowler, who testified for the defense at the 2021 murder trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin. Fowler attributed Floyd鈥檚 death to a sudden heart rhythm disturbance as a result of his heart disease 鈥� a widely rejected theory that did little to persuade the jury. Chauvin was ultimately convicted of murder and manslaughter for kneeling on Floyd鈥檚 neck for more than nine minutes.

After his conviction, 400 medical experts signed a letter to the Maryland attorney general asserting that Fowler鈥檚 testimony deviated way outside the bounds of accepted forensic practice. In addition to citing heart problems, he classified the manner of death as 鈥渦ndetermined鈥� rather than 鈥渉omicide.鈥�

The letter called for an investigation to determine whether the office鈥檚 in-custody death determinations under Fowler鈥檚 leadership exhibited racial or pro-law enforcement bias, among other potential issues.

Fowler was Maryland鈥檚 chief medical examiner from 2002 to 2019.

In 2023, state officials approved a settlement agreement that reformed the process for conducting autopsies on people killed in police custody.

That change came in response to the 2018 death of Anton Black, who died in police custody on Maryland鈥檚 Eastern Shore. His death was captured on video, which showed police in rural Greensboro holding the unarmed teenager down for more than six minutes. Fowler ruled that Black died because of a sudden cardiac event while struggling with police 鈥� not because they pinned him in a prone position.

Fowler similarly ruled that Tyrone West died of natural causes after struggling with Baltimore police following a traffic stop in 2013. Witnesses and the officers themselves said there was a violent struggle between the officers and West.

Fowler鈥檚 tenure also included the death of Freddie Gray 10 years ago. The autopsy concluded Gray died from spinal injuries sustained during transport in a Baltimore police van. It also classified his death as a homicide because officers repeatedly failed to seek medical attention while he was in distress. Prosecutors filed charges against six officers, but none were convicted.