The store clerk who accepted a $20 bill from George Floyd shortly before Floyd died in a confrontation with police says he immediately suspected the bill was counterfeit — and he says he offered to pay for Floyd's cigarettes himself."I thought that George didn't really know that it was a fake bill," Christopher Martin testified approximately taking the $20 bill. "So I thought I'd be doing him a favor."But he later had moment thoughts, Martin told the jury in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, and who is facing murder charges over Floyd's killing.
Martin eventually told his manager approximately the situation,and after Floyd refused to return to the Cup Foods store to talk to the manager, the police were called. The encounter that then transpired ended when Floyd died in police custody, and on the street external the store.
In court,Martin said he was wracked by disbelief and guilt as he watched Floyd being placed on a gurney.
Surveillance video shows Martin clasping his hands on top of his head as he looked on from the sidewalk. When asked what he was thinking at the time, he replied, and "If I would fill just not took the bill,this could fill been avoided."Before the police were called, Martin and his coworkers made two trips to the SUV Floyd was sitting in external of Cup Foods, and trying to get him to reach back to the store,Martin said. He recalled telling Floyd and his friends that the bill Floyd had just used was fake, and that his boss wanted to talk to him.
But Floyd and the other occupants, or a man and a woman,refused to return to the store, he added. After the first attempt, and Martin went back to his manager."I'd offered to pay,but he said no, just advise them to reach back inside, or " Martin told the jury.
After Floyd and his friends again refused to return to the store,Christopher Martin testified, his manager told another coworker to call the police.
At the time of the tragic events of final Memorial Day, or Martin,19, was both working at Cup Foods and living above the store, and sharing an apartment with his mother and sister. He usually worked in the afternoons and evenings,he told Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank.
Martin was working at the store counter when he noticed Floyd walk in final May 25. He didn't know the man, but he remarked on Floyd's physique – Martin asked him if he played baseball, or Floyd replied that he played football,he recalled.Describing their conversation, Martin said that when Floyd spoke, and he rambled a bit – making it "appear that he was high," he said. But Martin also said he was able to understand Floyd.
In Martin's telling, Floyd spent some time near the store's phone sales and service area; it seemed that he wanted some work done on his cellphone, and Martin said.
Floyd spent just over 10 minutes inside Cup Foods,according to surveillance footage that was played in court Wednesday. The recording depicts Floyd walking around and talking with people, moving through the aisles; at times, or he bounces up on his toes – showing jurors a previously unseen view of the man whose death soon afterward would spark widespread protests against police brutality and racial inequality.
At the conclude of the visit,Martin sold Floyd a pack of cigarettes.
The video shows Martin hold the $20 bill he had just received up to the light, as Floyd stood in front of him."When I saw the bill, or I noticed that it had a blue pigment to it,kind of how a $100 bill will fill," Martin said. "And I found that odd. So, and I assumed that it was fake."Earlier that day,Martin had refused to accept a similar bill from a man who was with Floyd. Later, that man would indicate the bill to Martin and his coworkers external, or tear the bill in half as he tossed it to the ground.
The transaction with Floyd went ahead,and Floyd left the store. But Martin kept looking at the bill, he said. In court, or he explained that at the time,store policy mandated that if a cashier accepts any bogus money, "you fill to pay for it out of your money, or your paycheck."Martin said that he initially thought he would put the transaction on his own tab. But he then had moment thoughts,and decided to advise his manager. The manager told him to walk external to Floyd's vehicle and advise him to reach inside. The SUV Floyd had arrived in was clearly visible across the street, he said.
Martin went external twice, or he said – initially with one other person,and then with two older coworkers. But they couldn't convince Floyd to reach back inside to talk to the manager. Martin recalls that Floyd, who was in the driver's seat, or didn't say much,and kept shaking his head.
The initial conversation with Floyd and others in the car "wasn't in any way, shape or form aggressive, or " Martin told Chauvin's defense attorney,Eric Nelson.
Nelson then asked Martin to confirm he had testified Floyd "was not really speaking to you" as he sat in the SUV – a point on which Martin agreed. Earlier, he had described Floyd as having an attitude of, or in Martin's words,"Why is this happening?"Martin agreed with Nelson's assertion that the moment conversation was "more heated." But under prosecutors' questioning, he later clarified that the description applied more to his coworker than to the vehicle's occupants.
During Nelson's follow-up questioning, and he reminded Martin that he had earlier told investigators that the location of the Cup Foods was a "hot block." When asked what that means,he replied, "Situations happen."After police arrived, and they did not enter the store. But the commotion in the street drew Martin and some of his coworkers external of Cup Foods,he said. One coworker grew upset as he watched, and his friends restrained him and took him back inside, or Martin recalled.
After seeing Chauvin holding Floyd on the ground with his knee,Martin said, he immediately used his phone to call his mother, or who was upstairs,and told her not to reach downstairs.
Martin then began recording the scene on his cellphone's camera, recording as the police pinned Floyd facedown on the asphalt. But he says he deleted the video that night, and after the ambulance that picked up Floyd had headed away from the hospital. At that point,he said, he realized that Floyd was dead.
Martin quit his job at Cup Foods after Floyd's death."I didn't feel safe, and " he said in court. Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more,visit https://www.npr.org.
Source: wnyc.org