Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons, CCA-SA 3.0
by Debbie Burke
In September 2023, reports were made that “star” forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods mishandled DNA evidence. In October 2023, she was placed on administrative leave. In November, 2023, after almost 30 years with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Woods retired to avoid termination.
CBI launched an internal affairs investigation into Woods’s conduct and the results were released on June 5. 2024.
Some of their findings included:
“In 2014, a coworker questioned Woods’ testing of evidence in a case and reported concerns to a Technical Leader.
In 2018, Woods was accused of data manipulation. In response, she was removed from casework and given other duties pending a review of the accusation.
After the review, Woods was later reinstated.
The results of the 2018 review were not escalated to the former CBI Director or CDPS leadership.
CBI has initiated additional investigations into the circumstances surrounding the 2018 process.”
As of the date of the report, 654 cases had been identified as affected by Woods’s data manipulation. The report goes on to say:
“[The investigation] revealed that Woods manipulated data in the DNA testing process, leading to incomplete test results in certain cases. It also found she concealed her activities from the technical review process. She engaged in the deletion and alteration of data, and she failed to provide thorough documentation in case records related to certain tests performed.
While the review did not find evidence of Woods falsifying DNA matches or fabricating DNA profiles, Woods deviated from standard testing protocols and cut corners, raising concerns about the reliability of her testing.”
The investigation continues, with Woods’s cases back to 1994 being reviewed. CBI said they would not release further information because of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Parts of a November interview between Woods and investigators were played by 9News.com in July 2024. Initially, Woods’s answers were: “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember.” When asked why she altered or omitted test results, she answered, “I think I’m burned out.”
Later in the interview, her answers were more revealing:
“The implications were not even a thought and I think that for that stuff it, it was like click done, move on, click done, move on and not even, not even an additional thought…I don’t know any of these people. I don’t have any reason to pick this one and not the next one that I took forward all the way through whatever.”
[Investigator] Hassenstab asked her how she felt about what she was doing and if she felt bad about it.
Woods said, “I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t even think about it until five weeks ago.”
Five weeks ago refers to when she was removed from her position and retired shortly afterward.
According to CNN, a week after Woods’s resignation, a federal lawsuit was filed alleging James Hunter was wrongly convicted of burglary and sexual assault in 2002 based on “fabricated and false [hair] evidence” examined and tested by Woods.
Westword.com reports a lab worker recounted an incident in 2014 or 2015 when “Woods allegedly threw away fingernail clippings that were assumed to be evidence.”
Woods came in, brushed the fingernail clippings in her hand, and threw them in the biohazard or garbage bin,” the worker said, telling investigators she was “99 percent” sure the clippings were evidence.
James Karbach, director of legislative policy and external communications for Office of the State Public Defender says, “This has become about more than just one longstanding analyst tampering with evidence and deleting data, but it also is about the systemic failures of an accredited state crime lab, the people, and the processes that should have stopped this from happening over and over for years…there have likely been hundreds of public defender clients who were given intentionally manipulated data and who were prosecuted with unreliable evidence.”
Misconduct raises concerns not only of wrongful conviction, but also that guilty parties may walk free. If courts rule DNA evidence was mishandled, cases can be thrown out.
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TKZers: Have you heard of other crime labs where evidence can’t be considered reliable? Does this scenario inspire story ideas? An innocent person wrongly imprisoned? A killer skates because mishandled evidence is thrown out?
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Cover by Brian Hoffman
Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is a legal doctrine that says if evidence is illegally obtained, it’s not admissible in court. It’s also the title of Debbie Burke’s new thriller.
Wow. We need to bring back integrity. Across the board in all tasks/jobs. But it certainly does provide story fodder, that’s for sure.
Brenda, you’re so right about integrity. Her own words, “click done, move on, click done, move on and not even, not even an additional thought” sound like callus indifference even though people’s lives and freedom are radically affected..
The story already points to other issues. Hair matching is no longer considered reliable enough for court. Bite patterns, the same. There is question if arson investigations are anything more than guesswork.
Missouri executed Marcellus Williams Monday. The lab work was botched but the state went ahead anyway.
Alan, the phrase “beyond a reasonable doubt” comes to mind. Questionably handled evidence should raise reasonable doubt, esp. in death penalty cases.
Not excusing Woods for what she did, which is reprehensible, but it seems to me that her actions also reflect a wanton disregard for the employees in this lab (and likely labs all across the country) where workload is far too great and number of employees too low. There’s tremendous pressure to get the lab work done quickly so cases can go forward in an overloaded justice system. I’ve seen a lot of references to how long it takes to get DNA results (which TV shows tend to turn into a matter of hours rather than weeks or months, lol). Supervisors need to recognize that burnout is real. In some part, I suspect Wood was being truthful would she said she was burned out. The impact on real people with real lives and loved ones doesn’t seem to bother her–either because she’s incapable of empathy or because she’s numbed by doing this job for so many years–or both.
Kelly, according to several articles I read, she had a reputation as a high performer and took pride in the volume of work she produced. I suspect your observation is true about pressure and overload. Also distressing is that prior concerns about her work appear to have been dismissed by supervisors.
But the apparent lack of concern over the consequences of incomplete work bothers me the most.
Not only should she be held accountable but her bosses as well. My current WIP involves a man who was wrongly convicted 20 years ago, and this time DNA cleared him.
Pat, great compelling plot! Do you have a title yet? Let us know when it’s published.
My working title is Chasing the Truth. We’ll see if my publisher keeps it. 🙂
Fascinating and scary, Debbie. I wonder what Ms. Woods’s motive was. It sounds like it was just to get a good performance review and probably better raises than her coworkers. But her lack of integrity only points to part of the problem. The fact that she had the opportunity to mishandle so much data over such a long period of time means the oversight of her department was AWOL. Seems to me this is a real danger in any bureaucratic system.
Great point, Kay! Bureaucracies have a way of getting out of control where oversight doesn’t work. Making a “quota” takes precedence over doing the job properly and correctly.
For as long as I can remember, NC has had a backlog going back years for rape kits. It was talked about every election cycle but never fixed. Theoretically, it’s been fixed. It’s not a forensic lab, but I heard a story about a lab tech who was deliberately ruining cancer research for some sick reason. The head of the lab had to run the same tests in a locked room to catch her. Who is pro cancer?
Wow, Marilynn, that’s a horrifying tale about the lab tech. How sick. .
Backlogs are a chronic problem in Montana, too, and I expect many other places. I don’t know the answer to solving the problem. If anyone has a solution, I hope they chime in.
This would be a great plot. We are all told (on TV and books) that DNA testing is infallible but the interpretation of the data is done by human beings who are fallible. Plot: DNA expert paid off to misinterpret the data. Cat and mouse game follows.
Brian, compelling and timely idea! There’s your new book!
BTW, compliments continue to come in about the beautiful cover you designed for Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. Many thanks!
A similar incident occurred at the Boston State Lab. Almost identical circumstances. Boston State Police had to take over the lab until they could restaff it. Disgraceful. They’re playing with people’s lives.
“Playing with people’s lives” should have serious consequences, Sue. A price can’t be put on the damage done to crime victims, the unjustly convicted, and families.