Other articles by Alexis Huicochea:

Cold Case : Daughter still hoping police will someday find her mother's killer City police widen use of e-citations Getting traffic ticket in Tucson speeds up Cold Cases Single-vehicle accident near I-10 and Ina cleared

Other articles by Kim Smith:

Mistrials occur for numerous reasons; who might be at fault isn't predictable Man gets 10 years in stickup, ATM theft Deal means 17 1/2 years, max, in rapeAjo man, 19, is indicted in rape, killing of girl, 7 After 20 years on death row, he's free

Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Construction
West-Press
Printing Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator

A Tucson police crime lab supervisor accused of stealing narcotics evidence has resigned, and the Pima County Attorney's Office plans on reopening up to 200 cases that he's worked on.

Steve Skowron, who worked for the Tucson Police Department for more than two decades, is accused of mishandling six criminal cases between December 2004 and January 2006, although officials declined to say what kind of cases were involved.

"We don't believe there was any attempt to alter the outcomes of any cases," said Assistant Chief Roberto Villaseñor. "We are confident that we know the extent of the mishandling."

The department was not aware of the mishandling until Feb. 27, 2008, after Skowron — the supervisor of latent print examiners — requested extended leave for personal reasons, Villaseñor said.

While he was on leave, a crime-lab employee went to his work station to retrieve items needed for testing and discovered unsealed packages of narcotics, but the narcotics were gone, he said.

Authorities say they learned he was taking the drugs for personal consumption but declined to say whether he had ever used them while at work.

There was also an e-mail from an organization that certifies latent-print examiners stating his certification needed to be renewed in 2006, Villaseñor said.

After checking with the organization, it was determined that Skowron, 49, had not renewed his accreditation and that the organization failed to send a final notice after the initial e-mail.

It was later determined that his certification was good through last month.

When the investigation was complete, the department decided that Skowron should be terminated, but he resigned Thursday, police said.

Skowron did not return a message for comment Friday evening.

As a latent-print examiner, it was one of Skowron's jobs to analyze and process packaging of narcotics for fingerprints, Villaseñor said.

The amount of narcotics taken was not available Friday and Villaseñor declined to say what kind of drugs they were.

The results of the investigation have been forwarded to the Pima County Attorney's Office for review of possible criminal charges.

Villaseñor said that Skowron knew none of the compromised cases were going to be followed up for prosecution when he took the narcotics.

David Berkman, chief criminal deputy county attorney, said his office is compiling a list of Skowron's cases that extends from one year before the first alleged incident through the present time. That list will be provided to all of the defense attorneys who handled those cases, probably sometime within the week, Berkman said.

Defense attorneys will then be given the option of having those cases independently reviewed by their experts or by the Tucson Police Department, Berkman said.

The number of cases that will require re-examination will likely be under 200 because many of the suspects were probably placed on probation or their own experts confirmed their fingerprints were on the item of evidence, Berkman said.

Although the cases referenced by the Police Department were drug cases, Berkman said the county attorney's list will include every case Skowron was involved in.

"We're out front on this," Berkman said.

The investigation has prompted changes in the way narcotics are handled in the Tucson Police Department crime lab, Villaseñor said.

Up until recently, latent-print examiners would dust the packaging for prints and then analyze them against known fingerprints in a database, police said.

Now, they will only be able to do the analysis of the prints and the dusting of the packaging will be conducted by crime-scene specialists, Villaseñor said.

Additionally, narcotics will be removed from the packaging and placed in a vault so that only the packaging will be checked. If for some reason the narcotics cannot be separated, two employees will have to be present.

Deputy Pima County Public Defender John Seamon was not surprised to hear about the allegations of mishandling, but he was surprised to hear Skowron's name in connection with them.

"It's unfortunate things like this happen with the police because it reflects poorly on those who are trying to do a good job, but we are aware things like this do happen," Seamon said. "It's good to know the chain of command is taking this seriously and taking the appropriate measures to correct it."

Seamon was also pleased by the county attorney's offer to have evidence re-examined.

Villaseñor said Skowron's alleged actions should not be viewed as a representation of the rest of the Police Department.

"We have 1,500 employees and 99.9 percent of them do well and meet all of the requirements that are placed before them," Villaseñor said. "You do hear of a few minor incidents where we have problems, but we are recognized as one of the top agencies in the country. When there are aberrations, we deal with them quickly."