Minneapolis, United States:
A shop clerk mentioned Wednesday at the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin that he regretted accepting the fake $20 bill from George Floyd that led to his arrest and eventual death.
“If I would have just not taken the bill, this could have been avoided,” Christopher Martin told the court on the third day of Chauvin’s trial.
Another witness on Wednesday broke down in sobs on the stand as he watched police bodycam footage of Floyd pleading for his mother in the course of his arrest.
Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter for his part in Floyd’s May 25, 2020 death, which was captured on video and sparked anti-racism protests about the planet.
Chauvin, who is white, was observed on the video kneeling on the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, for more than nine minutes.
Martin, 19, worked as a cashier at Cup Foods, the shop exactly where Floyd utilised a counterfeit $20 bill to acquire a pack of cigarettes.
Martin mentioned he knew appropriate away that the banknote was fake but took it anyway.
“I thought George didn’t really know that it was a fake bill,” Martin mentioned. “I thought I’d be doing him a favor.”
“I took it anyways and I was planning to just put it on my tab,” he mentioned, which means that the quantity would be taken out of his paycheck. “I offered to pay for it.”
Martin mentioned he told the shop manager about the fake bill, on the other hand, and he was told to go outdoors and inform Floyd to return to the shop.
Martin and co-workers went outdoors to a auto exactly where Floyd was sitting with two other folks but they refused to return to the shop and the manager referred to as the police.
After police arrived, Floyd was handcuffed and Chauvin held him down with his knee on his neck till he passed out and was taken away by an ambulance.
“He did seem high”
Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s defense lawyer, claimed in opening arguments that Floyd’s death was due to drugs and underlying healthcare situations and not asphyxiation.
Martin mentioned Floyd appeared to be “high” though he was in the shop but was “very friendly, approachable, talkative.”
“He seemed to be having an average Memorial Day, just living his life,” Martin mentioned. “He did seem high.”
Martin mentioned he left the shop once more when he heard “yelling and screaming” outdoors.
“I saw (Chauvin) with his knee on George’s neck on the ground,” he mentioned. “George was motionless, limp.”
Asked by prosecutor Matthew Frank what he felt at the time, Martin became visibly upset and mentioned “disbelief and guilt.”
Also testifying on Wednesday was Charles McMillian, 61, who mentioned he was driving by that day and stopped to see what was going on due to the fact he is “just nosy.”
McMillian, the initially bystander on the scene, can be heard on video at one point telling a handcuffed Floyd “you can’t win” and to get into the back of a police squad auto.
Prosecutors played police bodycam video of Floyd pleading that he is “claustrophobic” and calling for his mother as the officers attempted to spot him in the auto.
McMillian started sobbing as the video was played, removing his glasses and wiping his eyes with tissues till Judge Peter Cahill referred to as a short recess.
“I felt helpless,” McMillian mentioned.
McMillian also confronted Chauvin following the incident.
Asked by a prosecutor why he did so, McMillian mentioned: “Because what I watched was wrong.”
The morning session of the trial was briefly interrupted when a member of the nine-lady, 5-man jury appeared to fall ill.
Prosecutors are in search of to demonstrate to the jury that Chauvin had no justification for applying a unsafe neck restraint on a compliant Floyd.
Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the police force, faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the most severe charge — second-degree murder.
The trial is anticipated to final about a month.
Three other former police officers involved in the arrest — Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng — are to be attempted separately later this year.
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