An attorney for William Farwell, a former Stoughton Police Officer embroiled in a case concerning an inappropriate relationship with the late Sandra Birchmore, is seeking to exclude information about Birchmore from a disciplinary hearing. David M. Bae asserted during a Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission hearing that Birchmore's identity and the nature of her affiliation with a police youth training program should not be put forward in the panel's consideration of Farwell's police certification. This argument comes as POST is attempting to strip Farwell of his certification, according to a report by Boston 25 News.

POST Commission attorney Shaun Martinez refuted, citing the relevance of Birchmore's experiences when discussing the officer's professional conduct. "These are relevant facts that inform upon the level of unprofessionalism that William Farwell engaged in… there’s even references to the fact that William Farwell is aware that his twin brother had a sexual relationship with this individual when she was a minor," Martinez told Boston 25 News. Farwell is accused of sexting Birchmore while on duty, misusing a law enforcement database for unauthorized searches, and being dishonest with state police investigators about his communications with her.

An internal investigation by Stoughton Police in 2022 unearthed the "inappropriate" relationships of Farwell, his twin brother Matthew, and a former deputy chief, Robert C. Devine, with Birchmore, who was linked to a youth Explorer program run by the department. Following Birchmore's death in May 2021, a medical examiner initially ruled her death a suicide. However, an independent forensic pathologist hired by the family determined that the manner of death was homicide, as noted by NBC Boston.

Bae insisted there was no evidence of his client's involvement with Birchmore while she was a minor. "There has never been, not in this case, nor the Norfolk and Norfolk County Superior Court case, a scintilla of evidence that my client had sexual relations with S.B. (Sandra Birchmore) while she was a minor," Bae stated to Boston 25 News. Despite Bae's request to exclude Birchmore's initials and her connection to the Explorer program from the POST case, Martinez argued that such details are significant and should not be kept from the record.

Birchmore's family has since lodged a wrongful death lawsuit, and the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has confirmed a criminal investigation is underway. The next status conference for Farwell's POST Commission hearing is scheduled for September 16, 2024, with a full hearing set for November.