BAY MINETTE, Ala. — Baldwin County District Attorney Hallie Dixon said she will need several more weeks to review existing evidence and examine new leads before deciding to retry former Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine for the murder of April Downs.

Meanwhile, newly appointed defense attorney Pascal Bruijn said Wednesday that Dixon is conducting a “fact forming mission,” and is wasting taxpayer money.

A jury could not reach a verdict in December on murder and stalking charges prosecuted by former District Attorney Judy. He was convicted of an ethics violation involving the use of a Mobile County vehicle.

Dixon defeated Newcomb in the November general elections and began reviewing the case when she took office in January.

Dixon said last week she has interviewed experts who testified in the December trial, then took suggestions and leads to other experts for review.

“We are waiting for the information from the new experts,” Dixon said. “We are coming up with things everyone feels may shed some more conclusive evidence.”

Bruijn said Dixon was “reinterpreting old facts,” and that the case should not be retried.

“The jury couldn’t even convict him on stalking charges,” Bruijn said. “If there is nothing new, why try the case again? There is no one crawling out of the woodwork. She is spending state money to buy witnesses who will be part of her fact forming mission.”

Circuit Judge Charles Partin appointed Bruijn, a contract attorney, to defend Nodine after he was ruled indigent. He resigned his Mobile County Commission post after murder charges were filed, and lost assets in a divorce settlement.

Bruijn is paid $45,000 a year in that post, regardless of the number of cases he is assigned.

He said he will be paid at least $50,000 to defend the case and will not be ready for trial until the spring of 2012.

He also said he will ask Partin for money to pay for investigators, transcripts, copying costs, counter experts and other costs related to Nodine’s defense.

Dixon countered that transcripts of expert testimony from the December trial are part of court records, and that they may not have to be paid again.

“The price tag can’t be a factor in anything we do, especially in a murder trial,” Dixon said. “The family needs closure. You can’t put a price tag on justice.”

Bruijn and Dixon declined to talk specifically about evidence, but both are awaiting results of a Blackberry cell phone used by Downs.

The password-protected communications device was entered into evidence in the December trial, but forensic experts were unable to “crack” the password.

“We are seeking folks who have the equipment and technology to open it,” Dixon said. “It may or may not shed any light.”

Bruijn said the district attorney’s office informed him Monday that FBI experts were attempting to solve the password combination.