George Floyd's Friend and ‘Key Witness' in Chauvin Trial Invokes 5th Amendment, Declines to Testify

A self-described key witness to the death of George Floyd-a longtime friend who was in the car with Floyd when police approached him-said through a lawyer that, if forced to testify about the incident, he'll invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and remain silent.

Morries Lester Hall, who in a June 2020 interview with The New York Times called himself "a key witness to the cops murdering George Floyd" and said he was "Going to be his voice" going forward, has asked the court to squash a subpoena calling on him to testify in the trial against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of murder.

Christopher Martin, a 19-year-old cashier at Cup Foods who testified at Chauvin's trial on Wednesday, said Floyd used the apparently counterfeit bill to pay for cigarettes.

Floyd died after resisting arrest, with the incident-caught on video showing Chauvin detaining Floyd by pressing his knee against his neck-sparking a spate of protests and riots last summer.

Martin, the cashier, told the jury that they chatted about sports but Floyd was slow to find his words, and Martin concluded Floyd was under the influence of drugs.

On Monday, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell showed the video to jurors, telling them that Chauvin "Didn't let up" even after a handcuffed Floyd said multiple times that he couldn't breathe.

Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, countered by arguing that Floyd was resisting arrest and Chauvin arrived to assist other officers who were struggling to get Floyd into a squad car as the crowd around them grew larger and more hostile.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/george-floyds-friend-and-key-witness-in-chauvin-trial-invokes-5th-amendment-declines-to-testify_3758413.html