Glass found in Brady Francis's hoodie, hit-and-run trial told

Fragments of glass were found in Brady Francis's hoodie and jeans, according to a forensic chemist who testified Friday in the fatal hit-and-run trial of Maurice Johnson.

But Kimberly Kenny, a civilian member of the RCMP, said she couldn't link these to the pickup truck belonging tothe man on trial.

The 22-year-old Francis was found dead in Saint-Charles, north of his community of Elsipogtog, on Feb. 24, 2018.

Johnson, 57, of Saint-Charles has pleaded not guilty to failing to stop at the scene of an accident that caused a person's death.

Examined clothes

Kenny, who has aPhD in analytical chemistry, was the first defence witness to testify as the trial resumed Friday afternoon inMoncton Court of Queen's Bench.

She works for the RCMP forensics laboratory services in Edmonton and testified via video conference.

Kennyexamined some of the clothes Francis was wearing the night he died,particularly his hoodie, jeans and a piece of fabric from the hoodie.

She told the court she was looking for the presence of any foreign paint, plastic or metal in those items so she could make a comparison with apaint sample and the grille from Johnson's vehicle.

The RCMP forensics lab no longer conducts glass analysis, so she wasn'table to determine exactly where the glass came from, Kenny said.

But she said the tiny fragments could indicate Francis struck a windshield the night he died.

The small pieces of glass could also be connected to a "non-vehicle," which could be any object made of glass, such as a container, Kennysaid.

• Brady Francis was likely standing when struck, pathologist tells hit-and-run trial

She couldn't tell when or how the fragments got onto his clothing, she said.

Through a microscope, a black coating could be seen on some of the pieces.

"It means they are very small, not uncommon to be less than one millimetre in size," Kenny said.

Dried blood, plants found on hoodie

Also on Francis's hoodie, Kenny said, were five metal fragments, dried blood, thin flakes of skin, dirt, debris and plant material, which could be grass.

Kenny testified that she was unable to find any polymer from the hoodie on the grille of Johnson's truck.

Defence lawyerGilles Lemieux asked her if there was any trace of paint from the grille, found on Francis's hoodie?

• 'That's my son': Mother of Brady Francis testifies about finding him lying on side of road

But Kenny said there wasn't.

However, she did say there were two black plastic fragments in the pair of blue jeans Francis was wearing that were similar to the blackpolycarbonate grille on the vehicle or other similar material.

She also noticed a few "red-brown" smears on the chrome finish of the vehicle.

She said it could've been blood but she's not qualified to identify it.

Police report withdrawn

Earlier in the day, the Crown withdrew a motion toinclude a police report as evidence.Prosecutor Pierre Gionet told the courtthe police report wasn't a necessary part of the Crown's case.

Speaking inFrench,Gionet said the evidence was initially going tobe used as "an aid" to RCMP Const. Mathiew Richard's testimony.

Richard, the Crown's last witness, testified that he analyzed security video from two buildings along Saint-Charles Road South, where Francis's body wasfound.

In a gas station video, Richard said he saw a light-coloured pickup truck travelling east between the Saint-Charles gas station and the home of Louis Daigle. The truck was similar to the 2003 GMC Sierra seized from Johnson.

The video time code read 9:40 p.m, but Richard said the security camera ran about 7.5 minutes fast and he adjusted the time 9:33 p.m based on his cellphone.

Friends and family observe

Dozens of people from Elsipogtog First Nation packed the courtroom to show support for the Francis family as the Crown wrapped up its case.

Court is scheduled to resume Monday at 9:30 a.m.

The defence is expected to call two or three witnesses.

The trial, which began on Jan. 13, is scheduled to continue until Jan. 31.