By Alabama Public Radio
Florence, AL – A capital murder trial has been postponed in Lauderdale County because a state pathologist could not testify in court. Defense attorneys in the case now say the postponement could create unfair delays and problems in questioning evidence in other criminal and civil trials in North Alabama. John Glenn is a pathologist at the Tuscaloosa lab of the Department of Forensic Sciences. Glenn was scheduled to testify next Tuesday at the murder trial of Devin Darnell Thompson. Thompson is charged in the 2003 killings of two Fayette police officers and a dispatcher. But District Attorney Chris McCool has filed a motion to postpone the trial, saying Glenn is medically incapacitated. State Forensics Director F. Taylor Noggle, Jr., says Glenn went on leave in October and is under the care of a physician. But Noggle says, despite Glenn's absence, autopsy reports could still be admitted into court and considered along with the testimony of a coroner, investigators and other witnesses to support its findings. The trial was supposed to be held in Fayette County but was moved to Lauderdale County to avoid publicity. The Circuit Judge in the case says he does not know when the new trial date would be scheduled.