TEMPE, AZ — An internal investigation into Tempe Police Department’s forensic service unit found concerns about using expired chemicals, outdated equipment, and not having procedures while processing crime scenes, according to court records.
Tempe police investigators were asked to look into the supervisor of the Forensic Services Unit, Laura Somershoe, who has since retired.
The investigation into Somershoe was done by the Tempe Police Department’s Professional Standards Bureau in 2021, where investigators found that a lack of equipment had a negative impact when members of the Forensic Services Unit were on crime scenes. Investigators also found that there were no standard procedures for processing crime scenes during the six years that Somershoe was assigned to the unit. Along with having no standard operating procedures, the unit did not continue with proper training.
In the Internal Affairs report, investigators wrote, “Due to the lack of proficiency testing and training, FSU has not been able to maintain their skills and knowledge at the level which would be expected.”
Read the full report below:
“Extremely problematic and it's unacceptable,” said Mark Gillespie. “That's why in our profession, standardization is critical. We all do things the same way over and over and over and you can't deviate from that.”
Gillespie has a master of Forensic Sciences and specializes in forensic consultations as he managed the forensic science services for the City of Austin, and helped the police department start their first DNA Lab.
We asked Gillespie to review the Internal Affairs report.
“I’ll tell you what, it places our justice system in jeopardy in a key county in our country, Maricopa County and Tempe Arizona,” Gillespie said.
In the report, the Professional Standards Bureau also found an incident where a mop handle from a 2016 homicide case was not properly handled as it was left in a temporary locker for approximately two years.
“The chain of custody and storage of this evidentiary item in such a manner can be detrimental to the criminal investigation as well as impacting a victim’s family,” an internal affairs report stated.
It went on to say that Supervisor Somershoe admitted this item was to be processed by her, stating, “According to her statement she did not process the evidentiary item due to factors such as hiring, training, COVID-19 and having many responsibilities.”
Investigators determined this is not consistent with the city’s impound policy as well as Somershoe’s work duties and responsibilities.
“What that tells me is that there are greater problems, it tells me that they don't properly audit or inventory their evidence. They don't know where evidence is, they probably have a very weak chain of custody,” said Gillespie.
During the investigation into Somershoe, members of the unit revealed major concerns of the unit, examples including:
- Lack of proficiency or competency test given annually
- Expired chemicals in the crime lab
- Outdated crime scene equipment, including an example of an outdated POLY light which does not allow for the proper examination of latent prints
- No standard operating procedures
- Unit lacked proper equipment like cameras, printers
- Unit did not have spare cameras
- In one case, a member conducted a test to determine if human blood was at a crime scene, but said he was uncertain if the biological swab he used from a kit was accurate “due to the testing kit being expired”
- In one instance, a member of the unit said she had used her personal phone for a flashlight at a crime scene because there was not backup equipment
- No sign in sheets or routine to placing evidentiary items in a temporary locker
According to the Internal Affairs investigation, investigators asked a homicide sergeant about the Forensic Services Unit, and he revealed: “There seems to be inefficiency within FSU.”
That homicide sergeant told investigators that he dreaded testifying in court about an item that sat in a working locker for months that was never processed, the sergeant said, “He dreaded being asked about the item in trial because he believed it would have had such a negative impact on the prosecution.”
Not only that, the homicide sergeant told the Professional Standards Bureau that, “He had concerns for homicide cases when and if a criminal trial were to occur due to lack of knowledge from FSU and lack of standards.”
WHO IS LAURA SOMERSHOE?
Laura Somershoe is the former forensic services supervisor for Tempe police, where she was in charge of managing the unit.
According to the internal affairs report, Somershoe was with the department for approximately 26 years. In her time with Tempe, she worked in the communications bureau, Criminal Investigations Bureau, Robbery Unit, Sex Offender Notification, Property Crimes Unit, and Tempe Police Patrol Bureau.
Somershoe was also a vehicle impound hearing officer, and public information officer.
All those roles were civilian roles.
Somershoe became the supervisor of the Forensic Services Unit in 2015.
YEARS OF CONCERNS
The report written by Tempe’s Internal Affairs division reveals that concerns go back further than 2021, but as far back as 2018.
According to investigators, Tempe officials learned of concerns around the Forensic Services Unit and the supervisor, Somershoe, in 2018 when several members of the unit informed the department.
The internal affairs report raises concerns about several cases, including one that dates back to 2016 when a member of the unit questioned how they tested blood at a crime scene as the test kit was expired.
Another case dated back to 2017 questions how a member of the unit was new to working with latent prints and needed assistance with verification on the identification regarding a fingerprint card.
“He alleged Supervisor L. Somershoe provided him with inaccurate information about the match of the fingerprint card,” the report read.
That same forensics member told investigators that when he was hired in 2017, there was a lack of standard operating procedures, including when it came to processing evidentiary items.
The ABC15 Investigators have been looking into concerns around the Forensic Services Unit since September when Tempe officials said they were having the Mesa Police Department process their major crime scenes including homicides, officer-involved shootings, and stranger sexual assaults.
RELATED: 'Areas of Concern' around Tempe Police Department’s forensic unit, memo reveals
The first statement from the City of Tempe in September said after a period of review by the new supervisor of the Forensic Services Unit and new chief of police, the department, “made the decision to upgrade the training provided to FSU team members.”
A spokesperson for Tempe said that a review of cases has found that not a single case has been compromised.
“Any suggestion that members of the FSU getting additional training will somehow open the door to overturning criminal convictions is simply wrong,” a statement said.
New records obtained by the ABC15 Investigators show that the former lieutenant of Somershoe, and those higher up the chain of command knew about issues in the unit.
During an internal investigation into Lieutenant John Thompson, his investigation report showed that his command staff were aware of the issues. The report stated, that upon receiving the complaint, Lt. Thompson briefed his commander who at the time was Commander Jeffrey Glover, now Tempe Police Chief.
It went on to say that he also provided this information to his peer lieutenants working in the Criminal Investigations Bureau, “Lt. Thompson stated he would often provide updates on his actions and the progress of the workgroup during CIB update meetings with Commander Glover and the other lieutenants in his workgroup.”
STERLING EVANS
The internal affairs report which reveals widespread problems in the Forensic Services Unit and the Supervisor was discovered by a man sitting in jail.
Sterling Evans is accused of second-degree murder and has been sitting in jail since 2021. Evans and his court-appointed private investigator, and legal team have raised questions about the Forensic Services Unit and have questioned evidence in the case. Past reports show that Evans was charged with second-degree murder for the death of his ex-girlfriend’s brother.
Evans is representing himself in court, and according to the public records in his case, he has questioned how there is not proper evidence to even reconstruct the crime scene that would establish the true events of what happened.
In a statement to ABC15, through his family, Evans said, “Evidence was not preserved that would prove my side of the story.”
Evans’ mother told ABC15 that what is happening to her son has undercut her faith in the justice system.
“It's not only my son, but its hundreds of cases that have been processed, people that have been imprisoned, people that have taken plea bargains based on this level of faulty investigative practices,” said Leah Evans.
Tempe officials say they are looking at cases going back three years to see if any were impacted.
Gillespie questions the city looking at cases only going back three years.
“This didn't start September 27 of this year,” he said. “This started prior to 2015, prior to the time when Laura Somershoe was assigned as the supervisor of the Forensic Services Unit.”
The City of Tempe, and Tempe police chief have not made themselves available on camera for an interview, but have sent statements before this internal affairs report was discovered in court records.
The last full statement from the City of Tempe dated November 9th said:
"Tempe's new Chief of Police, new Public Safety Director, and the new Supervisor of the Forensic Services Unit all share a top priority: Together with the city's new City Manager, we stand committed to building the FSU into one of the Valley's premier forensics agencies.
We are not here to second-guess decisions made months or years ago by the unit's former supervisor – who no longer works for Tempe PD – or the decisions made by the since-departed City Manager or Police Chief. We are here to evolve this unit to ensure Tempe residents have the high quality public safety services they demand and deserve.
So we are clear on the timeline, we want to highlight the following:
· The new FSU supervisor took over the unit in January. She had six months to review the unit. Her initial assessment was that the unit had areas that needed improvement, including making sure all personnel had advanced forensics training and that the FSU team had in place standard operating policies and procedures to handle major crime scene investigations.
· In May, Tempe enlisted City of Mesa forensics investigators to conduct an independent review of the FSU’s practices and capabilities.
· In June – at the time new Police Chief Kenneth McCoy started work with TPD – Tempe received the results of this review. Chief McCoy was briefed. He decided to pause FSU major crime scene investigations and fingerprint IDs. While the FSU techs are handling evidence gathering and photography work, all major crime scene forensic investigations and all fingerprint IDs have been outsourced to Mesa’s forensics lab. The City also has expanded its contract with Mesa – which for years has handled evidence processing for Tempe, as it does for several Valley cities – to have Mesa provide additional professional training and in-the-field training for FSU technicians and new hires to the FSU.
· An internal review of three years of work by the unit has shown that no cases have been compromised. The new supervisor, new policies and procedures, and the additional training received by the FSU technicians will only make this unit even better. Again, building the FSU into a point of pride is a top priority shared by all the leaders responsible for Tempe public safety."
The ABC15 Investigators reached out to an attorney who represented Somershoe during the internal affairs interview, as well as the union who was with her, but did not hear back.
HAVE A TIP? Reach out to Investigator Nicole Grigg at nicole.grigg@abc15.com.
