Denver Police Department
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The full fallout of the Yvonne “Missy” Woods scandal is still unclear, over two years after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation revealed that its former star forensic scientist is accused of intentionally mishandling and manipulating DNA evidence.
The CBI internally reviewed more than 10,000 cases that Woods handled during her 29-year career as a DNA analyst, identifying problems in 1,045 of them. In April 2025, the Denver Police Department announced that its crime laboratory would conduct an independent review of Denver-based cases, as well.
DPD initially said the lab would re-examine reports from 422 sexual assault evidence kits handled by Woods. The department later expanded its review to over 1,300 sexual assault cases, without explaining the reason behind the massive addition, the Denver Gazette reported in August.
Today, the findings of that review have still not been made public — six months after the anticipated release date.
In August, DPD told the Gazette the findings would be released in around three months. Nine months later, DPD says there is now no estimated release date.
“The DPD Crime Lab’s initial findings have not been finalized as they are awaiting legal review. We do not have an anticipated date for when the findings will be finalized,” DPD says in a statement to Westword.
DPD did not respond to repeated inquiries about why the process is taking so much longer than anticipated, nor did the crime lab director, Greggory LaBerge. The Denver Department of Public Safety, which oversees DPD, similarly declined to offer an explanation.
“Because this matter is under review, the department is unable to provide comment at this time,” says Elizabeth White, spokesperson for the department.
Denver’s review came after Woods admitted to cutting corners when testing Denver sex assault cases, according to a CBI internal investigation. Woods reportedly told investigators that she believed the Denver lab sent the CBI cases it did not expect to solve, so she took shortcuts, such as deleting data on low quantities of male DNA, to avoid conducting additional testing.
“Denver PD gave us all the cases that they knew they weren’t going to prosecute, and they told us that,” Woods said in a 2023 interview with investigators, explaining that she was “overwhelmed” and “burned out” by the workload.
Denver Police called its review a “proactive effort” in April 2025.
“Our crime laboratory will determine the number of sexual assault evidence kits it will re-test,” DPD said in a statement at the time. “Any offender profiles that may be discovered through re-testing will be submitted to the Combined DNA Index System, CODIS, for potential investigative leads.”
The scandal has so far resulted in a murder conviction being vacated, and an impending lawsuit from a family who claims their father committed suicide in prison after being wrongfully convicted to life behind bars due to Woods’ influence on the evidence.
Woods faces 52 counts of forgery, 48 counts of attempt to influence a public servant, one count of first-degree perjury and one count of cybercrime. She pleaded not guilty to all 102 felony charges in February.
Woods’ trial is scheduled to begin on September 24. She is next due in court for a motions hearing on August 27.
