QUOTE OF THE DAY: ""Ms. Woods chose to become a cancer within the Colorado Bureau of Investigations, and that agency chose first to ignore, then place a bandage on the tumor until it could no longer be hidden from the public view," Vigil wrote when he dismissed the case against Eatinger."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Yvonne "Missy" Woods, once a prosecutorial rock star who testified in multiple high-profile cases, was accused of falsifying reports and taking shortcuts. In September, 2023 a CBI intern found "DNA anomalies" in Woods' work. CBI placed Woods on administrative leave the next month, as her work was under investigation. In November 2023, Woods retired from CBI, before the investigation finished. CBI's internal investigation found "Woods omitted material facts in official criminal justice records," and "tampered with DNA testing by altering or omitting some test results from the case file." The report also found a coworker reported concerns about Woods in 2014, and that she was accused of data manipulation in 2018. "The results of the 2018 review were not escalated to the former CBI Director or CDPS leadership," a CBI press release states. These past allegations are prominent in the Weld County judge's order."
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STORY: "Colorado Supreme Court orders Weld County judge to explain child sex assault case dismissal," by Reporter Aaron Adelson, published by 9News , on August 26, 2026.
SUB-HEADING: "The judge dismissed the case citing "outrageous government conduct" from CBI and former DNA analyst Missy Woods."
GIST: " Colorado's highest court ordered a Weld County judge to explain why he did not exceed his authority when dismissing a child sex assault case.
Days before a trial was scheduled to begin against Daniel Eatinger, who was accused of sexually assaulting a child, Weld County District Court Judge Vincente Vigil dismissed the case. The judge cited "outrageous government conduct," by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and CBI's former DNA analyst Yvonne "Missy" Woods.
Woods was accused of falsifying DNA data, and CBI called her work into question in 1,045 cases. She pleaded guilty to four felonies and faces a maximum of 16 years in prison.
"If the scope and breadth of the Woods’ scandal does not constitute outrageous government conduct, this Court would struggle to imagine something that would. If this is not outrageous government conduct, then that doctrine may as well not exist," Vigil wrote in an Aug. 2 order dismissing the case against Eatinger.
The Weld County District Attorney's Office asked the Colorado Supreme Court to intervene. The DA's office argued the Eatinger case was not one of the 1,000+ cases called into question.
GIST: " Colorado's highest court ordered a Weld County judge to explain why he did not exceed his authority when dismissing a child sex assault case.
Days before a trial was scheduled to begin against Daniel Eatinger, who was accused of sexually assaulting a child, Weld County District Court Judge Vincente Vigil dismissed the case. The judge cited "outrageous government conduct," by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and CBI's former DNA analyst Yvonne "Missy" Woods.
Woods was accused of falsifying DNA data, and CBI called her work into question in 1,045 cases. She pleaded guilty to four felonies and faces a maximum of 16 years in prison.
"If the scope and breadth of the Woods’ scandal does not constitute outrageous government conduct, this Court would struggle to imagine something that would. If this is not outrageous government conduct, then that doctrine may as well not exist," Vigil wrote in an Aug. 2 order dismissing the case against Eatinger.
The Weld County District Attorney's Office asked the Colorado Supreme Court to intervene. The DA's office argued the Eatinger case was not one of the 1,000+ cases called into question.
Prosecutors wrote they did not plan to rely on any of Woods' work, or ask her to testify in the trial. The appeal describes the dismissal as "gifted" to Eatinger, which "punishes society-and the child victim in this case."
Child sex assault case
In July 2018, Greeley Police reported a child was sexually assaulted in her bedroom.
"She went to bed and woke up to someone on top of her," an arrest affidavit states.
The child reported she did not know the person and had never met him before.
In June 2019, DNA analysis identified the suspect as Daniel Eatinger, who was then in a Florida prison.
This month, the Weld County District Attorney's Office planned to prosecute the case against Eatinger. A couple weeks before the trial was scheduled to begin, the judge dismissed the case.
Missy Woods
Yvonne "Missy" Woods, once a prosecutorial rock star who testified in multiple high-profile cases, was accused of falsifying reports and taking shortcuts.
In September, 2023 a CBI intern found "DNA anomalies" in Woods' work. CBI placed Woods on administrative leave the next month, as her work was under investigation. In November 2023, Woods retired from CBI, before the investigation finished.
CBI's internal investigation found "Woods omitted material facts in official criminal justice records," and "tampered with DNA testing by altering or omitting some test results from the case file."
The report also found a coworker reported concerns about Woods in 2014, and that she was accused of data manipulation in 2018.
"The results of the 2018 review were not escalated to the former CBI Director or CDPS leadership," a CBI press release states.
These past allegations are prominent in the Weld County judge's order.
"Ms. Woods chose to become a cancer within the Colorado Bureau of Investigations, and that agency chose first to ignore, then place a bandage on the tumor until it could no longer be hidden from the public view," Vigil wrote when he dismissed the case against Eatinger.
In January 2025, the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office filed 102 criminal charges against Woods. In June 2026, Woods pleaded guilty to four felonies. She will be sentenced on Sept. 8.
Appeal
Weld County prosecutors wrote that Woods was involved in the initial DNA testing, which identified Eatinger as the suspect. However, they wrote the case no longer relied on any of Woods' work, which was not called into question in this instance.
"Defendant's case was audited and determined not to be an affected case with an anomaly," the appeal states.
Still, prosecutors wrote they resubmitted items to be retested and the defendant chose an expert of his own to watch the testing.
"The DNA testing...resulted in substantially similar results as those completed by former Analyst Woods," the appeal states.
Weld County prosecutors accused the judge of abusing his authority.
"The district court abused its discretion by sanctioning the extreme remedy of dismissal without considering alternative, ameliorative measures," the appeal states.
What's next?
The Colorado Supreme Court ordered Vigil to respond by Sept. 16 to answer "why the relief requested in the petition should not be granted."
Child sex assault case
In July 2018, Greeley Police reported a child was sexually assaulted in her bedroom.
"She went to bed and woke up to someone on top of her," an arrest affidavit states.
The child reported she did not know the person and had never met him before.
In June 2019, DNA analysis identified the suspect as Daniel Eatinger, who was then in a Florida prison.
This month, the Weld County District Attorney's Office planned to prosecute the case against Eatinger. A couple weeks before the trial was scheduled to begin, the judge dismissed the case.
Missy Woods
Yvonne "Missy" Woods, once a prosecutorial rock star who testified in multiple high-profile cases, was accused of falsifying reports and taking shortcuts.
In September, 2023 a CBI intern found "DNA anomalies" in Woods' work. CBI placed Woods on administrative leave the next month, as her work was under investigation. In November 2023, Woods retired from CBI, before the investigation finished.
CBI's internal investigation found "Woods omitted material facts in official criminal justice records," and "tampered with DNA testing by altering or omitting some test results from the case file."
The report also found a coworker reported concerns about Woods in 2014, and that she was accused of data manipulation in 2018.
"The results of the 2018 review were not escalated to the former CBI Director or CDPS leadership," a CBI press release states.
These past allegations are prominent in the Weld County judge's order.
"Ms. Woods chose to become a cancer within the Colorado Bureau of Investigations, and that agency chose first to ignore, then place a bandage on the tumor until it could no longer be hidden from the public view," Vigil wrote when he dismissed the case against Eatinger.
In January 2025, the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office filed 102 criminal charges against Woods. In June 2026, Woods pleaded guilty to four felonies. She will be sentenced on Sept. 8.
Appeal
Weld County prosecutors wrote that Woods was involved in the initial DNA testing, which identified Eatinger as the suspect. However, they wrote the case no longer relied on any of Woods' work, which was not called into question in this instance.
"Defendant's case was audited and determined not to be an affected case with an anomaly," the appeal states.
Still, prosecutors wrote they resubmitted items to be retested and the defendant chose an expert of his own to watch the testing.
"The DNA testing...resulted in substantially similar results as those completed by former Analyst Woods," the appeal states.
Weld County prosecutors accused the judge of abusing his authority.
"The district court abused its discretion by sanctioning the extreme remedy of dismissal without considering alternative, ameliorative measures," the appeal states.
What's next?
The Colorado Supreme Court ordered Vigil to respond by Sept. 16 to answer "why the relief requested in the petition should not be granted."
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. 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. 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; 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;
