QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Jacquelyn and Debbie Espinoza said the pain they felt more than 21 years ago when their 37-year-old brother was killed remains, as does their anger over yet another delay in finally having a break in the case. “Nobody knows how it feels until you have walked in their shoes. The pain, you could not describe it. It never goes away. It never goes away. You have to live with it,” the sisters told 11 News back in February."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "11 Investigates reached back out to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office to inquire if it was aware of the delays, but the office did not want to comment, saying it was a CBI issue. For the Espinoza family, though, this is just another roadblock. And while they are frustrated, they remain steadfast in their commitment to finally finding answers, even if it takes even longer to find those. Colorado taxpayers are on the line to the tune of $7 million for CBI to work through the backlog created by this major investigation surrounding Woods. That money will cover the retesting of the evidence and potential reimbursements for post-conviction review and retrial costs."
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STORY: ‘The pain, you could not describe it’: Families of Colorado cold case victims could see even longer wait for justice," by Investigative Reporter/Morning Anchor Matt Kroschel, published by '11 Investigates' , on July 15, 2024.
SUB-HEADING: "It never goes away," the sisters told Kroschel of their grief over their brother. "... We have been broken to the point where we still have no answers."
GIST: "Testing DNA in cold cases inside Colorado Bureau of Investigations is taking months longer to complete, 11 Investigates has learned.
It is potentially delaying justice for one southern Colorado family even longer.
The family of El Paso County murder victim Ricky Espinoza have already waited more than two decades for answers, but because of alleged misconduct by a former CBI employee, they will be waiting longer.
11 Investigates was first to uncover earlier this year that DNA from the Espinoza case was supposed to be in the pipeline right now for retesting, but that is delayed at least three months on average now and could take even longer.
CBI told 11 News it is because of their former employee Yvonne “Missy” Woods’ alleged actions while testing hundreds of samples over the years. She is now under criminal investigation after CBI says she manipulated and deleted DNA data while working at CBI, impacting more than 650 cases statewide.
Now with a full audit underway to retest all of that evidence, cases like Espinoza’s are going to the back burner.
Jacquelyn and Debbie Espinoza said the pain they felt more than 21 years ago when their 37-year-old brother was killed remains, as does their anger over yet another delay in finally having a break in the case.
“Nobody knows how it feels until you have walked in their shoes. The pain, you could not describe it. It never goes away. It never goes away. You have to live with it,” the sisters told 11 News back in February.
Even before the alleged misconduct was discovered inside the DNA lab, testing on average could take up to nine months to complete. CBI now confirms with 11 Investigates that same testing is stretching into a full year.
CBI sent along this statement to our newsroom, attributed to strategic communications director Rob Low:
“CBI is committed to quality testing while respecting the rights of all parties to the criminal justice proceedings that it supports. DNA testing is a complicated time-consuming process and even before Ms. Woods’ misconduct was identified it could take 9 months on average to complete a case. That has stretched to a year due to the impact of the Woods’ investigation. These timelines reflect the turnaround times that apply to a majority of CBI’s caseload but are not reflective of the timeline of any particular case. The CBI constantly reprioritizes testing to meet the needs of the case in concert with the public safety community around the state.
“The Colorado Bureau of Investigation deeply regrets that one of its analysts violated its code of conduct and failed to maintain the agency’s high standards. CBI is dedicated to reducing the backlog of DNA cases to be processed and is working to implement changes that will increase efficiency. CBI is also adding resources to reduce its turnaround times and is currently in the process of training an additional 10 DNA scientists.”
11 Investigates reached back out to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office to inquire if it was aware of the delays, but the office did not want to comment, saying it was a CBI issue. For the Espinoza family, though, this is just another roadblock. And while they are frustrated, they remain steadfast in their commitment to finally finding answers, even if it takes even longer to find those.
Colorado taxpayers are on the line to the tune of $7 million for CBI to work through the backlog created by this major investigation surrounding Woods. That money will cover the retesting of the evidence and potential reimbursements for post-conviction review and retrial costs."
The entire story can be read at:
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;
