BAY MINETTE, Ala. — State forensic experts are currently testing murder suspect Stephen Nodine shirt for the presence of Angel Downs’ blood, while the contents of Downs’ cell phone the evening of her death has been retrieved, according to District Attorney Hallie Dixon.

Nodine, a former Mobile County Commissioner is charged with the death of Downs on Mother’s Day last year. Downs was found dead from a single shot to the head in the driveway of her Gulf Shores condominium.

Authorities believe Nodine pulled the trigger and that blood-spatter and other testing may reveal the presence of her blood or brain matter.

Court-appointed defense attorney Pascal Bruijn said the DNA testing will be fruitless.

“The state informed me that they plan to forensically test Mr. Nodine’s clothing soon,” Bruijn said. “Of course they won’t find anything because Mr. Nodine didn’t shoot Ms. Downs.”

A jury was deadlocked on murder and stalking charges in his December murder trial, but he was convicted of an ethics violation involving the personal use of a county vehicle.

“We have confirmed that not all available testing has been done,” Dixon stated Wednesday in an e-mail. “As in court, we have offered to allow the defendant’s expert to conduct the test or to participate in our testing.

“However, the case must reach a resolution of all issues and we cannot wait any longer to have this issue resolved. Thus, we decided to proceed with testing, having offered the defense the opportunity to participate.”

Dixon said there were no reports of chemical reactants earlier being put on Nodine clothing to reveal the presence of blood. Tests were limited to a visual exam because the reactants would destroy evidence.

Bruijn contracted earlier with Jan Johnson, a Pensacola, Fla., based forensic scientist specializing in reconstruction and examination of crime scenes to perform or observe evidence testing, but she has not participated.

Dixon said test results of the Blackberry communications device will be provided to the defense after Downs’ family is notified of the contents.

Both the state and defense have repeatedly said the cell phone may contain critical information from Downs’ voice mail or messaging moments before her death.

When area forensic experts were unsuccessful in “cracking” the contents, the cell phone was examined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation using proprietary software.

Dixon said she is still evaluating evidence and has not determined if she will retry the case.