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The criminal trial of former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin on Wednesday featured testimony from a former convenience store clerk who handed over a fake $ 20 bill from George Floyd, which ultimately sparked the man’s meeting with the police.
Christopher Martin testified on Wednesday that he watched Floyd’s May 25, 2020, arrest outside the Cups Food store with “disbelief” and “guilt.”
“If I just hadn’t taken [sic] bill, it could have been avoided, ”said 19-year-old Christopher Martin, joining a nascent list of onlookers who expressed a similar sense of helplessness and lingering guilt over Floyd’s death .
Martin said Floyd, 46, handed him what he believed to be a fake $ 20 bill while buying cigarettes at the store.
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Chauvin, 45, faces second and third degree murder and manslaughter charges.
In this still from the video, witness Christopher Martin answers questions as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over the trial of former Minneapolis Constable Derek Chauvin at the County Courthouse on Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Hennepin in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chauvin is indicted in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. (Short TV via AP, swimming pool)
((Court TV via AP, swimming pool))
Prosecutors used Martin to help detail the sequence of events leading up to the arrest, and also released store security footage showing Floyd in Cup Foods for about 10 minutes, adding to the mountain of videos documenting what s ‘passed that day.
Martin said he immediately believed the $ 20 Floyd gave him in exchange for a packet of cigarettes was bogus, but he accepted them, even though the store’s policy was that the amount would be taken from his check for pays if found counterfeit.
Martin said he originally planned to just put the invoice on his “tab,” but then questioned himself and told a manager, who sent Martin outside to ask Floyd to return to the house. shop.
He said an official asked another employee to call the police after Floyd and a passenger in Floyd’s vehicle twice refused to return to the store to resolve the issue.
Floyd was later arrested outside, where Chauvin was seen at times caught on video pinning his knee to the man’s neck during what prosecutors said was 9 minutes and 29 seconds, while a Floyd handcuffed was lying on the sidewalk. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
In this still from the video, defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin listen to Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank interview witness Christopher Martin as the Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over Wednesday, March 31, 2021, in Chauvin’s trial at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Court TV via AP, Pool)
((Court TV via AP, swimming pool))
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Inside the store, Martin had asked Floyd if he played baseball, and Floyd said he played football, but it took a while for Floyd to respond, so “it looks like he was. stoned, ”he said. He also described Floyd as friendly and talkative.
Martin said he quit his job at the store after Floyd died because he no longer felt safe.
The defense argued that the now-fired officer did what his training told him to do and that Floyd’s death was not caused by Chauvin’s knee to his neck – as prosecutors argue – but by a combination of illegal drug use, heart disease, high blood pressure and adrenaline circulating in his body.
Wednesday was the third day of trial in the Chauvin case. The most serious charge against him carries a sentence of 40 years in prison.
On Tuesday, several witnesses said they and other passers-by became upset as they repeatedly begged Chauvin to remove his knee from Floyd’s neck, but Chauvin refused to relax and the former officer Tou Thao pushed back. those who tried to intervene on the sidewalk.
One of those who fell at the scene, Minneapolis firefighter Genevieve Hansen cried as she recalled being prevented from using her EMT training to help Floyd.
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“A man was killed,” said Hansen, who testified in his uniform and detailed his emergency training. “I could have provided medical care to the best of my ability. And this human was denied that right.”
Danielle Wallace of Fox News contributed to this report, as well as to The Associated Press.
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