PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The incident involving mishandled DNA first became public knowledge in late 2023 after CBI issued a press release noting that Woods was facing a criminal investigation after anomalies in her work were discovered. Woods spent 29 years with CBI. She was first arrested and charged in January 2025. Woods is charged with 48 counts of attempting to influence a public servant, 52 counts of forgery of a government-issued document, one count of perjury and one count of cybercrime with damage of more than $1 million. Since her arrest, one conviction out of Boulder was vacated: Michael Clark was released from custody in April after he was convicted of a 1994 murder in 2012 where evidence from Woods was presented in the trial.
Potential lawsuits are also being discussed. A Colorado law firm in June filed notice that it intends to sue CBI over a conviction in another case where Woods handled evidence."
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STORY: “Another delay in case against former CBI scientist Missy Woods,” by Reporters Joe Vaccarelli and Natalie Chuck, published by Denver7abc, on August 4, 2025. (Joe Vaccarelli worked as a newspaper journalist for nearly a decade prior to joining the team at Denver7 in April 2020...Natalie Chuck joined Denver7 Investigates in May 2024. Previously, she worked as a Multimedia Journalist in San Diego where she covered historic flooding, wrongful-death lawsuits, and cold cases in southern California.")
SUB-HEADING: Denver7 Investigates has been following this case since the beginning. Here's what happened in court on Monday that led to the continuance.
PHOTO CAPTION: "The case against former Colorado Bureau of Investigation forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods saw another delay Monday after her first arraignment was continued."
GIST: "The case against former Colorado Bureau of Investigation forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods saw another delay Monday after her first arraignment was continued.
Woods, out on bond, appeared with her attorneys in Jefferson County Court. She is facing more than 100 felony charges related to the alleged mishandling of DNA evidence throughout much of her career, impacting more than 1,000 cases dating back to at least 2008.
Her attorney asked for the hearing to be pushed out for a couple of months due to the copious amounts of discovery. He said there are more than 40,000 files in the case and that the defense just received an additional 5,000 pages of discovery Monday morning.
Woods’ next hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Oct. 27, 2025.
Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Darren Kafka did not object to the delay, noting the extenuating circumstances of the case.
The incident involving mishandled DNA first became public knowledge in late 2023 after CBI issued a press release noting that Woods was facing a criminal investigation after anomalies in her work were discovered. Woods spent 29 years with CBI. She was first arrested and charged in January 2025.
Woods is charged with 48 counts of attempting to influence a public servant, 52 counts of forgery of a government-issued document, one count of perjury and one count of cybercrime with damage of more than $1 million.
Since her arrest, one conviction out of Boulder was vacated: Michael Clark was released from custody in April after he was convicted of a 1994 murder in 2012 where evidence from Woods was presented in the trial.
Potential lawsuits are also being discussed. A Colorado law firm in June filed notice that it intends to sue CBI over a conviction in another case where Woods handled evidence.
A third-party review paid for by CBI painted a harsh picture of leadership in the forensics office, stating that the agency failed to address staffing concerns and was “ill-equipped to handle crises and critical incidents.”
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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