A judge sentenced a former forensic analyst for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to 10 years in prison on Tuesday after authorities said her manipulation of DNA data raised questions about the validity of hundreds of criminal cases.
Yvonne “Missy” Woods pled guilty in June to perjury, attempting to influence a public servant, forgery, and cybercrime. A plea agreement resulted in the dismissal of dozens of additional counts.
Problems with the scientist’s work were discovered in cases involving homicide, sexual assault, robbery, and other crimes, according to officials. Prosecutors had to investigate hundreds of cases, and at least one murder conviction was overturned as a result of Woods’ misbehavior.
During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing before State District Judge Andrew Poland in Golden, Colorado, Woods faced 8 to 16 years in jail.
She quit in 2023, after a decades-long career. Authorities accused her of manipulating data to conceal tampering, removing data indicating that she failed to troubleshoot issues during the testing process, and failing to adequately document tests in case records.
According to the Denver Post, Woods apologized during Tuesday’s hearing but acknowledged that expressing sorry would not repair the hurt she had caused.
“For many years, I was trusted with evidence that might have far-reaching ramifications for defendants, victims, families, and the courts. I failed to fulfill those responsibilities. “I am deeply sorry for that failure,” she stated.
Following the sentencing, authorities from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation stated that in reaction to the data controversy, they have attempted to improve their laboratories in order to recover public trust.
“The actions of one individual never define this organization, nor do they define the dedicated public servants who continue to show up every day with integrity,” Bureau Director Armando Saldate said in a statement.
The inquiry into Woods’ misbehavior began in September 2023, when an intern at the bureau found missing information in a case Woods handled in 2018. According to an arrest affidavit, Woods allegedly informed investigators that she had modified data to speed up the completion of investigations.
In the vacated murder case, Michael Clark was released from prison in 2025 after his lawyers claimed that Woods mishandled DNA evidence. Prosecutors claimed they planned to retry him.
Because prosecutors were concerned that Woods’ involvement might result in acquittals, the defendants in two homicide instances received shorter terms as a result of plea bargains than they would have received if they had faced trial.
Other convictions have been challenged in Colorado courts.
Concerns about Woods’ work were initially raised more than a decade ago, according to an internal affairs report released by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation in 2024. A worker questioned her evidence testing as early as 2014, and in 2018, she was briefly removed from DNA cases after being accused of data manipulation, according to the article.
State officials have estimated that the response to Woods’ conduct might cost more than $11 million.
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