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James Claude Upshaw Downs M.D.James Claude Upshaw (“Jamie”) Downs MD continues as a Forensic Pathology Consultant, as he has for over a quarter century. He also is the Medical Director of the Physician Assistant Program at Charleston Southern University in Charleston, SC. Dr. Downs was Director of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences overseeing state of Alabama’s forensic laboratory system while also serving as the state’s first Chief Medical Examiner. Downs was graduated from the University of Georgia (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa). He received his Doctor of Medicine degree, Medical Residency training in Anatomic & Clinical Pathology, & Fellowship in Forensic Pathology from the
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Medical University of South Carolina (in his hometown of Charleston). The latter included a rotation through the Metropolitan Dade County Florida (Miami) Medical Examiner Department. Dr. Downs completed Peace Officers Standards & Training at the Southwest Alabama Police Academy, receiving distinction as class president, top academic student, & best defensive driver. Downs has been a medical examiner for Charleston County South Carolina/the Medical University of South Carolina, the state of Alabama, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He completed an internship at the Behavioral Sciences Unit, FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia and was named as a Consultant for the FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit, for whom he authored “the Forensic Investigator’s Trauma Atlas.” Downs was senior editor and author for “Ethics in Forensic Science” – the preeminent treatise on the subject. He has appeared in numerous national television broadcasts (National Geographic, C-SPAN, The New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic Science, Forensic Files, Street Stories, Dateline, & 48 Hours) and consulted on forensic movies, television (Rosewood), and books (including Patricia Cornwell). Significant cases have included the Georgia tristate Crematory case (where he personally identified over 330 sets of decomposed remains) and the H.L. Hunley autopsies (the first successful combat submarine in world history). Dr. Downs was the Pathologist on the first capital murder DNA trial in the history of the state of South Carolina.
His professional activities have included service on numerous professional boards and committees. For over a decade, Dr. Downs taught Forensic Autopsy Pathology for the Mercer University School of Medicine and South University (Savannah), the latter for whom he also taught the Clinical Pathology course. Downs also serves as a Clinical Laboratory Director. He is widely regarded for his ability to convey complex medicolegal findings and concepts, via both testimony and courtroom illustrations.
Dr. Downs has worked extensively on national forensic political issues, including directly with t h e n U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (AL) to create and pass the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Act. At the Senator’s request, Downs testified in support of the bill before Congress. He testified (twice) before the US National Academy of Sciences Committee on Science, Technology, & the Law’s Forensic Science Committee regarding medicolegal death investigation & forensics in what became their groundbreaking report: Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward (2009).
Dr. Downs has lectured hundreds of times and has presented at numerous national and international meetings in the fields of Anatomic and Forensic Pathology, including at the National Forensic Academy and at the FBI’s National Academy. His audiences have included law enforcement, social services, attorneys (prosecution and defense), judges, university undergraduate and pre-professional students, medical personnel, and graduate medical audiences. Areas of special interest include ethics, asphyxiation, child/elder abuse, and police use of force. He has testified in numerous state and federal courts, the US Military Justice system, before committees of both the US Senate and House of Representatives, and before the National Commission on Forensic Sciences.
His professional activities have included service on numerous professional boards and committees. For over a decade, Dr. Downs taught Forensic Autopsy Pathology for the Mercer University School of Medicine and South University (Savannah), the latter for whom he also taught the Clinical Pathology course. Downs also serves as a Clinical Laboratory Director. He is widely regarded for his ability to convey complex medicolegal findings and concepts, via both testimony and courtroom illustrations.
Dr. Downs has worked extensively on national forensic political issues, including directly with t h e n U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (AL) to create and pass the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Act. At the Senator’s request, Downs testified in support of the bill before Congress. He testified (twice) before the US National Academy of Sciences Committee on Science, Technology, & the Law’s Forensic Science Committee regarding medicolegal death investigation & forensics in what became their groundbreaking report: Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward (2009).
Dr. Downs has lectured hundreds of times and has presented at numerous national and international meetings in the fields of Anatomic and Forensic Pathology, including at the National Forensic Academy and at the FBI’s National Academy. His audiences have included law enforcement, social services, attorneys (prosecution and defense), judges, university undergraduate and pre-professional students, medical personnel, and graduate medical audiences. Areas of special interest include ethics, asphyxiation, child/elder abuse, and police use of force. He has testified in numerous state and federal courts, the US Military Justice system, before committees of both the US Senate and House of Representatives, and before the National Commission on Forensic Sciences.