Yvonne ‘Missy’ Woods charged after alleged crime lab misconduct
A longtime Colorado crime lab analyst was hit with more than 100 criminal counts Wednesday after she allegedly mishandled and altered reports tied to sexual assault cases over a 15-year span – conduct first discovered by an intern, according to prosecutors.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation forensic laboratory scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods is accused in more than 30 sexual assault cases of deleting specific information in samples and handing over reports to agencies that reflected, “No Male DNA found,” when traces might have actually been present, the District Attorney for the First Judicial District said.
The reports might have also had possible contamination in which more lab work was required, prosecutors alleged.
The alleged misconduct affected more than 20 law enforcement departments statewide and is estimated to have cost the CBI more than $11 million already, the district attorney’s office said.
But that number could balloon with the alleged malfeasance expected to cause wider problems across Colorado’s legal system.
The possible criminal behavior by Woods was first discovered by a CBI intern who was working on a project in the lab in September 2023.
The intern was going over quantification data in vestibular swabs tied to historical sexual assault cases when he or she noticed specific data was missing, prosecutors said in an affidavit.
An internal probe was then launched which revealed a number of similar discrepancies within Woods’ workbooks, including altering or deleting data that is important to the quality control process, according to the district attorney’s office.
The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation was asked to investigate the matter leading up to the criminal charges.
Woods allegedly hid possible contamination, and changed or deleted quantification values and reran batches of DNA multiple times without noting.
At one point when she was confronted by a colleague about some issues in her work, Woods gave off a “befuddled” look, according to the affidavit.
Woods, who started with the CBI in 1994, is facing criminal charges tied to alleged actions between 2008 and 2023.
The CBI staffer stepped down in 2023 instead of facing termination after problems were found in about 1,000 cases, according to an internal probe, the Denver Post reported.
“We want to thank the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation for their diligence in conducting a complex investigation,” District Attorney Alexis King said in a statement.
“Based on the available facts and after careful legal analysis, we have filed charges and will now proceed with a criminal prosecution. My office remains committed to reviewing all affected cases within our jurisdiction on behalf of the defendants and victims involved.”
Woods is facing 102 combined charges, including a count each of cybercrime and first-degree perjury with most of the counts consisting of attempt to influence a public servant and forgery.
She was released from jail after posting $50,000 bond, WRIC reported.
