State employees tried to warn managers at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation that forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods had been manipulating data as early as 2014 — almost a decade before the agency investigated and discovered she had intentionally manipulated evidence in hundreds of criminal cases she handled over her 29-year career, the agency said Wednesday.
Doubts over Woods’ work were cited in 2014 when a coworker questioned her testing of evidence in a case and reported the concerns to a technical leader, according to a summary of findings from the 94-page internal affairs report. Woods was suspended from working on criminal cases in 2018, after she was accused of manipulating data, CBI said. She was then reinstated after a review.
The results of the review were never passed on to the agency’s director or the Colorado Department of Public Safety leadership, CBI said, adding that officials are further investigating why that was the case.
It wasn’t until September 2023, after an intern reported an anomaly in Woods’ test data at the lab, that CBI launched a deeper probe into Woods’ work and found that she manipulated data in the testing process, and in some cases, posted incomplete test results, in cases she handled between 2008 and 2023.
She was placed on administrative leave in October and retired a month later, before the investigation could be complete, CBI said.
The discovery put all of Woods’ work into question and CBI continues to review her work dating to 1994, when she started working for the CBI. The former forensic scientist handled evidence for some of the most high-profile trials in the state.
So far, officials have found that Woods manipulated data in 654 cases, but that number could grow.
“While the focus of the IA addressed Woods’ misconduct, we acknowledge that it took too long to detect ongoing intentional manipulation of our lab system,” CBI Director Chris Shaefer said in a statement Wednesday. “We are in the process of identifying an external vendor to conduct an organizational review to ensure that our forensic services procedures and systems adhere to CBI’s high standards.”
In an interview with investigators, one of Woods’ colleagues said she worked a lot of overtime and that other scientists believed Woods cut corners to be a “top producer,” the report said.
CBI previously denied The Colorado Sun’s request for the report, but said it was releasing it Wednesday after portions of it were leaked to the public. The agency said it was “necessary and appropriate” to share the report to provide “as much transparency as possible without compromising any ongoing investigations.”
While the report highlights concerns over Woods’ work that were brought to CBI management’s attention, Woods’ attorney, Ryan Brackley, said Woods never created or falsely reported any DNA matches intending to incriminate or gave false testimony in a hearing or trial that resulted in a false conviction.
“For most of her long career at CBI, and especially over the past 10 years, Ms. Woods was and continued to be the CBI’s hardest working and most relied on DNA scientist, and was continuously tapped to work on Colorado’s most important, complicated and highest profile cases,” Brackley said in an email.
In a summary of its findings, CBI said investigators found that Woods omitted material facts in official criminal justice records, and tampered with DNA testing by altering or omitting some test results of case files.
Her tampering was not detected by CBI’s existing review processes.
After the agency discovered Woods’ manipulated data, the agency made changes to protocols and policies “to enhance the integrity of its testing processes and results,” CBI said.
“Not only is Woods’ caseload being reviewed, but we are auditing the results of all current and previous DNA scientists to ensure the integrity of the lab,” Schaefer said in the prepared statement.
Investigators said they did not find evidence that Woods falsified DNA matches or fabricated DNA profiles. Instead, she deviated from standard testing protocols and cut corners, which raised concerns about the reliability of her testing.
CBI worked with Kansas Bureau of Investigation on the internal affairs report and continues to work with public safety partners, including district attorneys, regarding Woods’ casework, CBI said.
The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation is conducting a separate criminal investigation into Woods’ actions.