As he sat in his office preparing cases for upcoming court dates, Dallas County District Attorney Ed Greene did not look pleased to hear the news of proposed cutbacks at the state Department of Forensic Sciences and the director’s recent resignation from the department.

Taking a long pause before he spoke, Greene said, “It’s extremely disturbing to hear of proposed cutbacks within the forensic sciences department followed by the announcement of Dr. Downs leaving.”

Both the resignation and cutbacks will affect the court system and law enforcement’s ability to do their jobs, Greene said.

On Wednesday, Dr. James C. Upshaw Downs, director of Alabama

Department of Forensic Sciences announced he would leave at the end of August to become medical examiner in Savannah, Ga.

Downs became the state forensics director in 1998 and has faced budget problems during his administration.

He gave expert testimony in countless trials in Dallas County and 16 other counties in the state of Alabama. Before his departure, Downs is expected testify in the retrial of murder suspect Jonathan Witherspoon.

Greene said there has been an ongoing discussion among the Alabama District Attorney’s Association about the extreme delays in drug analysis, pathology and postmortem work, toxicology reports and DNA evidence at the forensics department.

“The length of time we get results from forensics has been very unsatisfactory for the past few years. Drug results have been constantly behind and judges have been patient. With the proposed cutbacks there could be serious delays, causing law enforcement delays on drug cases and attorneys asking for continuances on cases,” he said.

Alot of those delays and proposed cutbacks is due to ??internal wrangling and debates in the legislature over funding Alabama’s forensics program. A bill that would provide a six-year term and a review process for the state’s forensics director was defeated in the last legislative session.

The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences reportedly has a $16 million budget with 175 employees who perform scientific work to assist law enforcement, analyze drugs, and conduct autopsies. The department plans to cutback on its staff by Oct. 1 due to a budget shortfall of $2.2 million.

Downs said he had been thinking about leaving the department before the budget problems, but once that came about it made his decision easier.

Having grown up with the forensic labs employees during his career at the District Attorney’s office, Greene said it will be a great loss to see some of them leave.

“The forensic lab employees would spend time with detectives and advise them in their investigation on what questions to ask. It’s a high respected department that was extremely competent and able to determine factual matters that the court could rely up without question.”

Greene’s other concern is whether trace evidence and firearms lab would be closed under the proposed cutbacks. Trace and firearm evidence is crucial to criminal business and there had been talk of those labs closing, he said.

Spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill Pryor, Suzanne Smith said Pryor will appoint a search committee that would recommend three candidates for the position – just as he did with the selection of Dr. Downs. There are no names being discussed at this time, however.

With budget problems still a serious issue for the state forensic sciences program, Greene said the question is what will the new director do about those issues.

“With Dr. Downs leaving will give the new director a chance to analyze the problems and bring solutions to help law enforcement. It’s most important that the forensic science department does not lose its confidence with the law and court…and also continue to aid law enforcement in its duties,” Greene stated.