PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Woods worked so much, court records in the Dye case say, from 2007 to 2023 she earned more than half a million dollars in overtime, funded exclusively by taxpayers. The internal investigation found a coworker accused Woods of manipulating data in 2018. Woods was removed from casework and after the review, she was reinstated. CBI said the results of the review in 2018 were never shared with the agency's former director. CBI has launched an additional investigation into how the complaint in 2018 was handled. James Dye's attorneys said in court documents CBI allowed Woods to continue working the most serious cases knowing that her fraud could blow like a powder keg at any moment. “Following the discovery of Woods’ actions in manipulating DNA analysis data in 2023, CBI is meticulously reviewing all of its testing protocols,” said CBI Director Chris Schaefer said in a statement in June 2024. “Not only is Woods’ caseload being reviewed, but we are auditing the results of all current and previous DNA scientists to ensure the integrity of the Lab.”
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STORY: "Former CBI scientist under investigation earned more than $500k in overtime, court docs say," by Reporter Kelly Reince, published by 9NEWS, on July 1, 2024.
SUB-HEADING: "The state plans to spend millions more after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation learned Missy Woods manipulated data in hundreds of cases.
GIST: "A former DNA analyst who is now under criminal investigation earned more than half a million dollars in overtime from 2007 to 2023, according to court records filed in Weld County. Those documents say all of it was paid for by taxpayers.
Colorado plans to spend more than $7 million more after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation learned Yvonne "Missy" Woods manipulated and deleted data, impacting more than 650 cases across the state. The funding will cover retesting of evidence and potential reimbursements for post-conviction review and retrial costs.
There's no evidence Woods' misconduct impacted the murder case against James Dye, who is accused of killing Evelyn Kay Day in 1979, court documents say. But because there are now questions about Woods' credibility, the trial has been pushed back to April 2025. Prosecutors have asked to retest the evidence.
Questions about who killed Kay Day in 1979 went unanswered for more than 40 years. She was beaten and strangled to death near Aims Community College in Weld County.
Then there was a break in the case. DNA scientist Woods helped deputies arrest James Dye in 2021.
He has a multistate criminal history. Day's murder was one of the county's oldest cold cases. At the time of his arrest, family members said they believed Dye was capable of murder.
Day was working at Aims Community College as a business lab monitor and was last seen alive around 10 p.m. by a student in late 1979. Investigators recovered DNA from her body, and it was determined it did not match her husband.
The cold case was reopened in May 2020.
Prosecutors assigned to the James Dye trial said in court documents there is no evidence Woods' misconduct impacted the present case.
Considering the questions raised by the investigation into her conduct, court documents said, prosecutors asked the evidence be retested by a different analyst.
Dye hasn't gone to trial yet, and now it's been delayed even more after the investigation into Woods.
The purpose of the retesting is to determine whether the DNA does or does not match Dye to the cold case murder and involve a different analyst who can testify to independent results "unencumbered by Fifth Amendment issues," records say.
If prosecutors called Woods to the witness stand, she could plead the fifth.
District attorneys said in court documents Woods "breached the public trust" and in the process "quite possibly committed hundreds of criminal acts."
Investigators in South Dakota are still reviewing whether Woods violated any laws there.
That investigation will be handed over to the district attorney in Jefferson County, CO who will make any charging decisions.
Court documents said the 29-year-veteran at CBI was considered a "golden child" that management loved, in part, because Woods handled so many cases.
A coworker during an internal investigation said she was one of the highest performing scientists.
Woods worked so much, court records in the Dye case say, from 2007 to 2023 she earned more than half a million dollars in overtime, funded exclusively by taxpayers.
The internal investigation found a coworker accused Woods of manipulating data in 2018. Woods was removed from casework and after the review, she was reinstated.
CBI said the results of the review in 2018 were never shared with the agency's former director.
CBI has launched an additional investigation into how the complaint in 2018 was handled.
James Dye's attorneys said in court documents CBI allowed Woods to continue working the most serious cases knowing that her fraud could blow like a powder keg at any moment.
“Following the discovery of Woods’ actions in manipulating DNA analysis data in 2023, CBI is meticulously reviewing all of its testing protocols,” said CBI Director Chris Schaefer said in a statement in June 2024. “Not only is Woods’ caseload being reviewed, but we are auditing the results of all current and previous DNA scientists to ensure the integrity of the Lab.”
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;
