Ex Colorado forensic scientist pleads guilty in DNA case

A former forensic scientist for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation pleaded guilty to four felonies on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, concluding a prosecution that exposed a yearslong pattern of data manipulation affecting more than a thousand criminal cases. Yvonne "Missy" Woods, 65, entered her plea in Jefferson County District Court to charges of committing a cybercrime, perjury, attempting to influence a public servant, and forgery. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed the remaining counts against her, which originally totaled 102 felonies. Judge Andrew Poland stated that Woods will be sentenced to a prison term of between eight and 16 years.

The charges stem from Woods's 29-year career at the CBI, where an internal investigation found she mishandled DNA testing in at least 1,045 cases. Officials said she deleted, omitted, and manipulated data to speed up the testing process and boost her productivity, creating unreliable results that have sent shockwaves through the state's criminal justice system. The cybercrime conviction, the most serious charge, was tied to a pattern of entering false information into the CBI's computer system between 2008 and 2023, causing...