Testimony resumes this morning from the off-duty firefighter who was out for a walk when she came upon George Floyd under the knee of Minneapolis police officers. It got tense yesterday between the defense attorney, judge and firefighter/EMT Genevieve Hansen: 
Hansen is back; Chauvin's attorney asks just one more question: whether she showed any ID on the scene. Prosecutor asks whether she had any with her, which she did not.
Prosecutor asks a few questions and Hansen is done testifying. Next up: Christopher Martin, a 19-year-old man from Bloomington who lived above Cup Foods when Floyd died outside the store.
Martin worked as a cashier at Cup Foods at that time, and had been working there just a couple of months when George Floyd walked in on May 25.
He was working at Cup Foods when George Floyd came in on May 25. He noticed his size - "he was big" - and asked if he played baseball, and Floyd said he played football.
Martin said it took Floyd awhile to answer his question because “it would appear that he was high.”
The state is now playing video of George Floyd walking into Cup Foods that day.
Floyd is standing near the register for quite awhile, appearing to try to get something out of his pockets, looking for something perhaps, then walks to front of store.
Here's a story about Cup Foods I wrote: minnesotareformer.com/2020/08/21/cup…
After loitering around for a few minutes, dancing a little jig near the register at one point, Floyd bought cigarettes from Martin with a $20 bill, and Martin held it up and noticed it had a blue pigment to it, more like a $100 bill. Floyd leaves the store.
Martin eventually tells his manager the $20 bill looks suspicious, and the manager told him to go out to the SUV and ask Floyd to come inside and discuss it.
Martin testifies he went out to the SUV twice. The first time, he went out with another person. State about to show video from Dragon Wok across the street.
Judge calls for 5-minute break; not clear why.
Martin said it was store policy that if you accepted a fake bill, it came out of your paycheck. He says he took the $20 anyway and was planning to just put it on his tab, but changed his mind and told the manager. Wow.
I know when I was at Cup Foods writing a story about the store, there were a LOT of young employees working there. Christopher Martin, the former Cup clerk testifying now, is 19 years old now.
Pool reporter says they took a break because a juror stood up and gestured toward the door, "Not clear but she seemed flushed or perhaps ill, she appeared to be fanning herself"
Pool reporter also says Floyd's cousin Shareeduh Tate is in the courtroom today. She's a registered nurse from Houston and this is her second time in the courtroom -- she was here for one day of voir dire.
Tate told the reporter she thought yesterday went well for the prosecution. Asked about the defense trying to paint the crowd as angry and interfering, she said, “I think they had to find something -- when you can’t use the facts you have to do something different.”
“The whole day yesterday was emotional," Floyd's cousin Tate said. Watching the bystander testimony, she said, “I could almost feel like I was living in that moment with them, Countless times I myself have wished I had been able to intervene.”
“I am pessimistically optimistic that it will be the outcome that we want and I only say that because we put the decision in the hands of someone else," Tate said. "If it were me it would be a done deal. But we believe justice will be served."
We're still on break; not clear what's the holdup other than that juror who may be ill. @MaryMoriarty what happens if a juror is sick?
The trial has resumed with a video from outside Cup Foods, from Dragon Wok's security camera.
Martin and another employee went out to Floyd's SUV & asked Floyd to come back in the store because the $20 bill was fake. He said Floyd just kind of shook his head. They didn't come in.
Martin goes back in & tells his manager Floyd won’t come inside. Martin says "I offered to pay (cover the $20)" but the manager told him to go back outside & try to get them to come in. He goes back to Floyd's car with 2 different coworkers.
So you have 2 young employees confronting Floyd and 2 adults in an SUV on the street:
Floyd was just kinda shaking his head like “Why is this happening to me? I don’t want this to happen sort of thing.”
The manager told his coworker to call the police, and police arrived and went in the store.
Later he noticed a commotion outside the store, and since the store was empty by then, he went outside and saw Derek Chauvin with his knee on Floyd's neck.
Martin called his mom and told her not to come downstairs (they lived above the store) and then started recording the scene. But that night, Martin said he deleted it because “I just didn’t wanna have to show it to anyone.”
Martin says he recorded the scene until his coworker was pushed by officer Thao because he was yelling at the cops – asking them to check Floyd's pulse, etc.
Martin said he was in disbelief and feeling guilt because if he had just not taken the bill, this could have been avoided. This is the video being played
Martin says he didn't continue working at Cup Foods because "I didn't feel safe."
Martin said earlier in the day, Floyd's companion also had tried to pay for something with a fake bill, but he'd rejected it.
During cross-examination, Chauvin's attorney Nelson notes that Cup Foods' manager had a pistol on his hip. A manager also had one when I reported this story: minnesotareformer.com/2020/08/21/cup…
Martin says he decided not to call out Floyd over the fake $20 partially because he seemed under the influence, but also because his companion seemed like he knew it was fake, but Floyd didn’t really seem to know, so he thought he’d be doing him a favor.
During redirect, Martin says Cup Foods did not train him on how to identify fake bills; he just learned from experience. He said Floyd seemed very friendly, approachable, talkative – "but he did seem high."
The defense is focusing on Martin's testimony that Floyd seemed to be under the influence of something; the prosecution is focusing on how he was still able to walk, talk, function.
Martin is finished testifying, the next witness Christopher Belfrey, who shot video. ajc.com/news/new-video…
Belfrey says he pulled up behind Floyd's SUV en route to get food, and saw cops walk up and pull a gun.
When he heard more sirens, he moved his car across the street to avoid getting trapped, and recorded from there. It's amazing how there is security video/cell phone video of almost every moment in this incident.
Belfrey said he stopped recording at one point because an officer kept staring at him and it made him “kind of scared,” saying “I don’t really want any problems.”
The defense does not cross examine him, and he's done testifying. Lunch break until 1:15.
Pool reporter says break earlier this morning was due to juror 44 who was having a stress-related reaction to the trial; said she'd been awake since 2 am, but thinks she'll be OK going forward.
If this indeed was Juror 44, she is a single white woman in her 50s who works for a health care nonprofit and said during jury selection she hadn’t seen the whole Floyd video, saying, “It was emotional… I didn’t wanna watch it.”
We are back with the next witness, Charles McMillian, who is mentioned in this story: kagstv.com/article/news/l…
He was driving east and saw a cop standing next to Floyd's Mercedes SUV and pulled over because he's "nosy." He got out, crossed the street and watched by Cup Foods.
Cup Foods released the following statement today: "It is NOT Cup Foods protocol to send employees outside. It was because we had a good enough relationship with him(George Floyd)and we felt like he didn't know it was counterfeit"
"Also, we ONLY tell employees they have to pay for counterfeit bills if they don't check them as a deterrent; we've never made an employee pay for a counterfeit bill," said Jamar Nelson, spokesman for Cup Foods
Back to testimony, McMillian was the older man you can hear in bystander videos repeatedly telling George Floyd to comply with police, saying “you can’t win."
The state plays video of officers struggling to get Floyd in the squad car:
The witness, Charles, is very upset by seeing this video. We're paused.
Charles is very upset, says he felt helpless and notes his mom died June 25. Judge calls a 10-minute break.
I didn't catch everything he said, but others are saying Charles said, as he broke down, "I can't, I feel helpless. I don't have a mother either, I understand him..”
#DerekChauvinTrial
#DerekChauvinTrial
McMillian testifies Floyd kept saying “I can’t breathe… Momma… You’re killin me… My body’s shutting down.” He kept urging Floyd to get up and get in the car to try to help him. Floyd had foam around his mouth, he said, and seemed to be “in and out.”
They're playing video of Chauvin with knee on neck and McMillian pleading with him to get up and Floyd saying he can't. In the courtroom, Chauvin is mostly looking down writing on his yellow legal pad.
McMillian testified he kept telling Floyd to get in the car and cooperate to try to help him because “Basically what I’m saying is you can’t win because once police get the cuffs on you, you can’t win.”
Now they're playing McMillian's confronting Chauvin after the incident:
McMillian said he told Chauvin that he’d told him five days prior that he and others should all go home safe at night, but told him “I don’t respect what you did.” Chauvin said something like “That’s your perspective.”
The defense chooses not to cross-examine him. "You mean I'm done?" he asks, appearing surprised.
Reporters in the media center are trying to piece together what we heard Chauvin say on this new video. We think Chauvin said, "I gotta control this guy. He's a sizable guy" and "He looks like he's probably on something."
What she said:
https://twitter.com/hollybdc/status/1377339185992900608?s=20
From the pool reporter, @tarangoNYT: Floyd's youngest brother Rodney is in the courtroom. "He does not watch when they show Mr. Floyd struggling in the squad car and saying, 'I’m scared as fuck.' He stares down and opens his eyes wide."
per Tim: During another graphic video shown of the officers struggling with Floyd inside and then outside the squad car; yelling “mama” and “I can’t breathe,” Rodney Floyd holds his hands and looks down shaking his head, refusing to watch.
The next witness is Minneapolis Police Lt. James Jeffrey Rugl, who will give "foundational testimony." He manages police technology equipment, software and systems officers use.
Spell check: Lt. James Rugel.
Pretty clear he's going to testify about the street cameras that recorded much of this incident.
Now the state is playing street camera footage of the first two cops arriving at Cup Foods and going to Floyd's SUV across the street.
A graphic showing in yellow all the cameras at this intersection, one of which is the city's:
With that foundation laid, the state is entering as evidence Officer Thomas Lane's body-worn camera footage:
Now we're seeing the body cam of the first two officers arriving on the scene:
WARNING: This video could be traumatizing. Officers approach Floyd:
You can see Officer Chauvin's body cam video has come off and is under the squad car.
The body cam video continues to play from Lane's camera, as you can hear the crowd get louder and louder and more panicked, saying he's not responsive. Lane asks whether they should roll him on his side.
The video plays until Floyd is loaded into ambulance. Now they're playing the body cam footage of officer J Alexander Kueng
If you want to watch, go to: startribune.com/watch-live-tri…
Now the state is playing Tou Thao's body cam footage.
Now the prosecutor is playing Chauvin's body cam footage, which presumably gets cut off at some point because it ended up under the squad SUV.
As they're taking Floyd out of the Squad SUV, the body cam is knocked under the car and video ends.
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