GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — 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 pleaded guilty in June to perjury, attempting to influence a public servant, forgery and committing a cybercrime. Dozens of other counts were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Problems with the scientist’s work were found in cases involving homicide, sexual assault, robbery and other crimes, according to authorities. Prosecutors were forced to review hundreds of cases, and at least one murder conviction was vacated as a result of Woods’ misconduct.
Woods had faced between 8 and 16 years in prison during Tuesday's sentencing hearing before state District Judge Andrew Poland in Golden, Colorado.
She resigned in 2023 after a decades-long career. Authorities accused her of altering data to conceal tampering, deleting data that showed she failed to troubleshoot issues within the testing process and not thoroughly documenting tests performed in case records.
Woods apologized during Tuesday's hearing but said she knew saying sorry would not undo the harm she caused, the Denver Post reported.
“For many years I was entrusted with evidence that could have profound consequences for defendants, victims, families and the courts. I failed that responsibility. I am deeply sorry for that failure," she said.
Following the sentencing, Colorado Bureau of Investigation officials said they have sought to reform their laboratories in response to the data scandal as they try to rebuild public trust.
“The actions of one individual never define this organization, and they do not define the dedicated public servants who continued showing up every day with integrity," bureau Director Armando Saldate said in a statement.
The investigation into Woods' misconduct began in September 2023 after an intern at the bureau discovered missing information in a case that Woods handled in 2018. According to an arrest affidavit, Woods allegedly told investigators at one point that she had changed data to complete cases more quickly.
In the vacated murder case, Michael Clark was released from prison in 2025 after his lawyers argued that DNA evidence was mishandled by Woods. Prosecutors said they would seek to retry him.
In two homicide cases, the defendants received lesser sentences under plea deals than they could have faced if they went to trial because prosecutors were afraid Woods’ involvement could lead to acquittals.
Convictions in other cases also have been challenged in courts across Colorado.
A Colorado Bureau of Investigation internal affairs report in 2024 revealed that concerns about Woods’ work first surfaced more than a decade ago. As early as 2014, a worker questioned her testing of evidence, and in 2018 she was temporarily removed from working on DNA cases after being accused of data manipulation, the report said.
State officials have said that the response to Woods’ actions could end up costing more than $11 million.
