QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We ordered this assessment because transparency and accountability are non-negotiable in forensic science. The public deserves to know that science, not workload or speed, is what guides our forensic work,” Stan Hilkey, executive of of the Colorado Department of Public Safety, which oversees CBI, said in a statement on Tuesday. “This report and its recommendations are a necessary step in rebuilding trust, a process that is well underway and that we remain committed to achieving.”
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Throughout the ongoing crisis it was often presumed that any problems at the lab were solely the fault of Woods, characterized as a rogue scientist who fooled everyone. But this new report, while placing her alleged wrongdoing squarely at the center of scandal, also lays blame on the lab culture where supervisors favored and rewarded speed and "a productivity-above-all" mindset over proper procedural standards. It also perpetuated an environment where problems were allowed to persist without being addressed, the report said.
"CBIFS staff described how morale suffered under a fear-based culture perceived as autocratic, punitive, or indifferent," the report said. "Staff feedback suggests employees felt unable to speak up about concerns and feared retaliation if they challenged favored individuals."
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STORY: "Report outlines 'autocratic, punitive' culture at Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI) , by Jenny Deam and Luige Del Puerto published by The Denver Gazette, on July 8, 2025. (Luige Del Puerto is Editor of The Denver Gazette and Colorado Politics. He joined the Gazette family in 2021. He's the former editor and publisher of the Arizona News Service, which operates Arizona Capitol Times, Yellow Sheet Report and Legislative Report.Luige previously covered national security in the Philippines…Jenny Deam is Senior Investigative Reporter.)
SUB-HEADING: "CBI commissioned the assessment in the wake of the DBA scandal that rocked the forensics lab."
GIST: An independent report on the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's forensics lab released Tuesday offered a sobering -- and at times blistering --assessment of the beleaguered office, where past leaders ignored internal allegations of misconduct in handling DNA evidence and the new ones were immediately plunged into a crisis that has rocked the public's trust but also the state judicial system as a whole.
The report by Forward Resolutions, a small Wisconsin consulting firm commissioned in January to review procedures in the wake of the unprecedented scandal at the state crime lab, concluded past CBI leaders were "ill-equipped to handle crises and critical incidents." And that even when told of serious irregularities in evidence handling and analysis, the response was "slow, fragmented and overly narrow."
The CBI scandal was first made public in November 2023 after an intern at the lab alerted supervisors of problems with the work of one of its most prolific and revered analysts, Yvonne Woods. Since then CBI has acknowledged finding 1,022 problems so far in her past forensic work, dating back nearly three decades. That translates to roughly one-in-10 of the more than 10,700 cases she worked on during her tenure at the lab.
Woods, 64, who goes by Missy, now faces 102 felony counts including cybercrime, perjury, attempt to influence a public servant and forgery, and is awaiting trial.
Throughout the ongoing crisis it was often presumed that any problems at the lab were solely the fault of Woods, characterized as a rogue scientist who fooled everyone. But this new report, while placing her alleged wrongdoing squarely at the center of scandal, also lays blame on the lab culture where supervisors favored and rewarded speed and "a productivity-above-all" mindset over proper procedural standards.
It also perpetuated an environment where problems were allowed to persist without being addressed, the report said.
"CBIFS staff described how morale suffered under a fear-based culture perceived as autocratic, punitive, or indifferent," the report said. "Staff feedback suggests employees felt unable to speak up about concerns and feared retaliation if they challenged favored individuals."
Previously, a separate internal investigation by CBI disclosed that in both 2014 and 2018 employees alerted lab management about issues with Woods' work but neither the public nor the legal community was ever informed and Woods faced no real consequence.
The report also criticized the lab's leadership for failing to anticipate the full impact of the scandal and the fall-out that some say could take years to untangle.
Already, in three murder cases headed for trial the suspects were offered lighter sentences on lesser charges in plea deals because of potentially compromised evidence at the CBI lab. In another murder case, the conviction of Michael Clark, who had served 12 years in prison for a murder he said he did not commit, was recently vacated after a retest of the DNA evidence showed potentially different results from what Woods concluded in the case. Clark is free on bond and waiting for the Boulder County District Attorney to decide whether to retry him.
The report also concluded that the agency's new leadership, while committed to improvement, still faces ongoing challenges as it grapples with the fall-out.
Earlier this year CBI leaders acknowledged a backlog of rape cases still needed to be tested that stretched more than 500 days as staff and resources were diverted to review past cases in search of problems with deleted data, compromised results and skipped steps in Woods' past cases. As of June 30, there were 1,236 sexual assault cases still needing analysis with an estimated wait time of 570 days.
Further the 105-page report said past lab leadership did not provide "proactive outreach" and transparency when problems arose, leaving prosecutors, defense attorneys, crime victims and defendants unaware that their cases may have been impacted and that "justice could be delayed or derailed due to lab errors."
All told, that culture produced a "fragile" organization, the assessment said.
While praising ongoing efforts to correct past deficiencies and move forward, the report outlined concern that intense public and news media scrutiny surrounding the scandal lead to a new kind of pressure on staff who "may feel compelled to expedite casework at the expenses of thoroughness." It noted "ongoing tension" within the lab, especially among front-line and mid-level staff.
The report lays out 52 specific recommendations for ongoing improvements, such as the need for more standardized procedures in evidence handling, better communication both internally and externally. That includes all affected parties including judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and law enforcement agencies who may have been touched by potential problems.
It also recommends the addition of an ombudsman and reiterates that the crime lab should remain "scientifically neutral" in its analysis, not an arm of prosecutors or law enforcement. "Forensic scientists may face implicit or explicit pressure to align their findings with investigative theories or prosecutorial goals," the report cautioned.
In addition, the report warned against potential conflict of interest or perceived conflict of interest from the state's attorney general's office which represents CBI along with all state agencies but is also the top legal officer in the state. An independent counsel was suggested.
A March 15 Denver Gazette investigation explored the conflict of interest or appearance of such by the attorney general's office as it sought to block the release of information on criminal cases requested by defense attorneys.
“We ordered this assessment because transparency and accountability are non-negotiable in forensic science. The public deserves to know that science, not workload or speed, is what guides our forensic work,” Stan Hilkey, executive of of the Colorado Department of Public Safety, which oversees CBI, said in a statement on Tuesday. “This report and its recommendations are a necessary step in rebuilding trust, a process that is well underway and that we remain committed to achieving.”
In its statement, CBI said it remains "fully committed to fostering a culture of transparency, accountability, operational excellence, and continuous improvement” adding that the findings and recommendations will be instrumental in guiding ongoing efforts to strengthen the lab.
CBI added that the new report "affirms the significant progress made since new lab leadership assumed control in 2022" including maintaining its national accreditation, expanded quality assurance measures and conducted an internal review of cases to "preserve integrity and restore trust."
For some, though, the new report validated concerns that many have voiced throughout the scandal. "The independent forensic services audit confirms that for years the laboratory at CBI operated with major structural problems and a broken culture, while wrongfully prioritizing output over fundamental fairness, scientific accuracy, and truth and transparency," said Zac Brown, chief deputy public defender for Colorado.
He added that while his office supports the recommendations the report outlined, he said more still needs to be done to inform everyone impacted about the full scope of the scandal. "the true measure of CBI"s willingness to repair the culture that led to this problem will be in how quickly it provides full transparency into prior misconduct and how aggressively it implements these recommendations," Brown said. 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;
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