PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "At issue is a nearly 100-page CBI law enforcement internal affairs report on hundreds of cases which were investigated by Wood in her 29-year career with the CBI. The report, which purportedly includes whistleblower interviews, alleged that Woods “cut corners” on some of her investigations. Prosecutors across the state are fuming that the anomalies will mean postponements because of a possible retesting backlog. Included among those cases are decades-old murders, which are set for trial and now sit in limbo. “What she’s alleged to have done could call into question the quality control policies and procedures from the CBI forensic laboratory,” Rourke said. Though the AG's office did not attend the hearing, it filed an argument requesting that only the redacted version of the Woods Investigative File be released to both sides — but not to the general public — in order to protect privacy of the law enforcement witnesses. "
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Woods did much of the DNA work on a 45-year-old murder cold case which is awaiting trial in Weld County. As the CBI Northern Colorado liaison, Rourke said that Woods worked on 85 cases from 2008 to the present."………"In the Weld County case, James Dye, 66, faces charges in connection to the with rape and murder of Evelyn “Kay” Day, an Aim’s Community College teacher whose body was found five days after Thanksgiving 1979 sexually assaulted and strangled with the belt from her own jacket. He was not arrested until 2021 after his DNA matched the profile found from spermatozoa found on Day’s body, her coat, pantyhose, underwear, pants and the belt. The case was dormant until 2011 when technology had advanced enough to identify DNA from Day’s husband, Chuck, on the belt which strangled her. Though the sperm found on Day’s body did not match that of Chuck Day, he was considered a suspect in his wife’s murder but was never arrested, according to a January 2024 Supreme Court filing. It wasn’t until 2020 that the DNA found on Day’s clothing and body was resubmitted to the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, and matched the DNA profile to Dye, a ex-convict living in Wichita. During a February 2022 preliminary hearing, Dye’s attorneys argued that Chuck Day was an alternate suspect, as the couple was reported to have been having marital struggles. Still, during the evidentiary hearing, Woods testified that Day’s finger clippings samples showed it was 17 trillion times more likely to be her and Dye’s DNA rather than that of Day and an unidentified person. Rourke is worried that uncertainty which looms around Wood’s results in the Day murder will impact the work of other forensic scientists and thus make more work for prosecutors as they scramble to retest evidence."
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STORY: CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation) DNA debacle hits Weld County in a 45-year-old cold case awaiting trial, by Local News Reporter Carol McKinley, published by The Denver Gazette, on March 19, 2024. ( A 40-year Colorado news veteran, Carol McKinley started in radio, and traveled the world as a network TV correspondent/producer. In 2021, she decided to return to local news.)
GIST: "A hearing in Weld County called to shed light on the scope of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation DNA science/testing debacle was postponed when only one of three parties showed up.
That party was the district attorney who called the hearing in the first place.
Michael Rourke, 19th Judicial District Attorney, subpoenaed the Colorado Attorney General’s office — which is representing the CBI — to appear before 19th District Judge Marcelo Kopcow to produce an elusive internal affairs investigative report into former CBI DNA scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods.
State officials announced a week and a half ago that DNA findings in more than 1,000 criminal cases in Colorado are now “in question” due to data manipulation by Woods.
Woods did much of the DNA work on a 45-year-old murder cold case which is awaiting trial in Weld County. As the CBI Northern Colorado liaison, Rourke said that Woods worked on 85 cases from 2008 to the present.
But according to Attorney General's Office spokesperson Lawrence Pacheco, the court clerk told his office that they didn't need to show up, so no one from Phil Weiser’s office came to the courtroom to represent CBI, a confusing development which Rourke described as woefully inadequate.
“I’m tired of CBI and the Attorney General’s office dragging their feet. That’s why I issued a subpoena in the first place. This is absurd!” said Rourke, so frustrated that he slapped the podium where he was standing.
Defendant James Dye and his attorneys from the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender were also missing from the hearing until Kopcow's court clerk was able to corral one of the lawyers on Webex. Deputy Public Defender Reshaad Shirazi explained that an office-wide computer crash may have caused him to miss an email alerting his team to the Tuesday morning hearing.
At issue is a nearly 100-page CBI law enforcement internal affairs report on hundreds of cases which were investigated by Wood in her 29-year career with the CBI.
The report, which purportedly includes whistleblower interviews, alleged that Woods “cut corners” on some of her investigations. Prosecutors across the state are fuming that the anomalies will mean postponements because of a possible retesting backlog. Included among those cases are decades-old murders, which are set for trial and now sit in limbo.
“What she’s alleged to have done could call into question the quality control policies and procedures from the CBI forensic laboratory,” Rourke said.
Though the AG's office did not attend the hearing, it filed an argument requesting that only the redacted version of the Woods Investigative File be released to both sides — but not to the general public — in order to protect privacy of the law enforcement witnesses.
Last Wednesday, a Boulder County triple murder which was supposed to start in April was postponed for months as attorneys for the defendant retest DNA results which Woods performed. Rourke is arguing for the entire file to be unsealed to the public.
In the Weld County case, James Dye, 66, faces charges in connection to the with rape and murder of Evelyn “Kay” Day, an Aim’s Community College teacher whose body was found five days after Thanksgiving 1979 sexually assaulted and strangled with the belt from her own jacket.
He was not arrested until 2021 after his DNA matched the profile found from spermatozoa found on Day’s body, her coat, pantyhose, underwear, pants and the belt.
The case was dormant until 2011 when technology had advanced enough to identify DNA from Day’s husband, Chuck, on the belt which strangled her. Though the sperm found on Day’s body did not match that of Chuck Day, he was considered a suspect in his wife’s murder but was never arrested, according to a January 2024 Supreme Court filing.
It wasn’t until 2020 that the DNA found on Day’s clothing and body was resubmitted to the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, and matched the DNA profile to Dye, a ex-convict living in Wichita.
During a February 2022 preliminary hearing, Dye’s attorneys argued that Chuck Day was an alternate suspect, as the couple was reported to have been having marital struggles.
Still, during the evidentiary hearing, Woods testified that Day’s finger clippings samples showed it was 17 trillion times more likely to be her and Dye’s DNA rather than that of Day and an unidentified person.
Rourke is worried that uncertainty which looms around Wood’s results in the Day murder will impact the work of other forensic scientists and thus make more work for prosecutors as they scramble to retest evidence.
The entire story can be read at:
https://denvergazette.com/news/dna-cbi-missy-woods/article_d3a17f6a-e63d-11ee-bcba-1f9e2816e47d.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
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MORE VALUABLE WORDS: "As a former public defender, Texas' refusal to delay Ivan Cantu's execution to evaluate new evidence is deeply worrying for the state of our legal system. There should be no room for doubt in a death penalty case. The facts surrounding Cantu's execution should haunt all of us."
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett; X March 1, 2024.
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