By Alan Gionet, Jennifer McRae
Click here for updates on this story
Colorado (KCNC) — A former DNA analyst with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation changed her plea to guilty in court on Tuesday to four charges, as part of an agreement in which prosecutors dropped 100 other counts she was facing.
Yvonne “Missy” Woods reached a plea agreement with prosecutors after she was accused of mishandling or manipulating data in dozens of criminal investigations, casting doubt on many cases in which she was involved. She pleaded guilty to one count each of cybercrime, perjury, attempt to influence a public servant and forgery.
The case was tried in the First Judicial District, where CBI lab techs have done their work.
Colorado First Judicial District District Attorney Alexis King said in a statement: “Today, Ms. Woods accepted responsibility not only for individual acts of misconduct but for the full scope of criminal conduct that spanned decades. Despite Colorado law allowing for these offenses to be probation eligible, this disposition guarantees a prison sentence and eliminates any possibility of a community-based sentence. Securing a term of imprisonment, protecting the interests of the community, and our shared expectations of integrity in the justice system is reflected in this resolution.”
Woods agreed to a stipulated sentence of between eight and 16 years of prison as part of the guilty plea agreement.
Woods was charged in Jefferson County Court in January 2025 with forgery, attempting to influence a public servant, perjury, and cybercrime. She initially pleaded not guilty to the charges in February of this year.
CBI said it launched an investigation into over 1,000 cases in which Woods had some sort of involvement. The agency said it looked at cases from 1994 to 2023, when she was placed on administrative leave and then retired.
According to an arrest affidavit, investigators said Woods intentionally left DNA samples out of tests or reports and sometimes would test samples until the results showed what she wanted. CBI asked the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation to conduct an outside investigation into the case since it involved one of its own employees.
Investigators alleged that Woods deleted some findings of what are called “specific values” in more than 30 sexual assault cases. She was accused of submitting reports that said no male DNA was found, when there was, in fact, male DNA or possible contamination that should have been retested.
Woods worked at CBI’s Denver regional laboratory in Lakewood until the facility moved to Arvada in 2016, where she worked until she retired in 2023.
A Colorado man convicted of murder over a decade ago in Boulder was released from prison in April 2025 after his lawyers say DNA evidence in the case was mishandled by Woods. Michael Clark spent 12 years behind bars but always maintained his innocence in the 1994 murder of Marty Grisham.
The district attorney in Boulder, Michael Dougherty, says the DNA evidence wasn’t the only problem with the case.
“The Clark case I look at somewhat differently, because in addition to the concerns we had about Missy Wood’s involvement, we also had really significant concerns about juror misconduct, also ineffective assistance of counsel,” said Dougherty. “But there are other cases where the DNA evidence played a really important role, and the misconduct by Missy Woods had an incredibly damaging effect on our ability to do justice for the case. And it’s caused us to revisit different cases and open old wounds for victims and their families, and that’s true in offices around the metro area.”
Dougherty tried cases in which Woods tested and testified. He says he has not talked with her since she left her position with CBI.
“I’ve always thought about how that conversation would go, and the incredible disappointment and just shock that I had when I first learned of her misconduct. And today’s guilty plea certainly cements that what she did was absolutely wrong and criminal, and against the public interest,” said Dougherty.
Dougherty did not have a count on how many cases might be affected in his district. In the First Judicial District, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation identified 107 cases with anomalies. The district attorney’s office said 56 of those cases were never filed by police, and 51 were prosecuted.
“She doctored testing results to avoid testing,” pointed out Jud Lohnes, an attorney with the Korey Wise Innocence Project at CU Boulder Law. “And that has a dramatic effect on both defendants and victims. Defendants who may have been deprived of DNA testing that could have proved their innocence, and victims of crimes who, whose cases may have withered on the vine because she didn’t conduct the DNA testing that could have brought the true perpetrator to justice.”
The Innocence Project is looking at multiple cases involving Woods’ work.
Last year, state lawmakers passed a bill sparked by the Woods investigation that creates procedures for reporting misconduct.
“I have at least 2 clients. where Missy Woods did testing in their cases,” said Lohnes. “And they did not receive a notice from the district attorney, because it got lost in the shuffle in CBI’s review.”
There is a backup caused by problems with the case. The cost was estimated at over $ 11 million two years ago, but there’s been no recent estimate.
“There are so many cases, and so many defendants, and so few attorneys who are capable of doing this work, that it’s going to take a long, long time to truly find out how many people were affected by our misconduct,” Lohnes explained. “To be frank, not every case that Missy Woods worked on is going to be one where her work caused prejudice. But just a small percentage of the thousands of cases that she worked on would be an enormous number.”
The CBI said today in a statement that it has undertaken reforms that go beyond routine compliance.
“This moment is not about moving on, for CBI, it’s about moving forward,” said Armando Saldate, Director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. “Today’s guilty plea is an important moment of accountability.”
Judge Andrew Poland set Woods’ sentencing hearing for Sept. 8.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
