ACLU of Colorado calls for independent audit of misconduct from CBI DNA analyst

COLORADO, USA — After learning a veteran DNA analyst at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) manipulated data in more than 800 cases, ACLU of Colorado is calling for an independent audit into Missy Woods’s misconduct. 

ACLU of Colorado, in partnership with the Korey Wise Innocence Project (KWIP), sent a letter Tuesday to the director of CBI demanding the agency be “transparent with the public” about its response to the misconduct of Missy Woods. 

Woods, who is now under criminal investigation, admitted she purposefully deleted data, according to an internal affairs investigation conducted by a team in Kansas. That investigation found she omitted facts in criminal justice records and tampered with DNA testing by altering or omitting test results from the case file. Woods worked at CBI for 29 years, and now all of her work is in question. So far, more than 800 cases have been impacted. A review of her work from 1994 to 2008 is still ongoing. 

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There were concerns about her work before the current investigation. In 2014, a coworker questioned her testing of evidence in a case and reported concerns to a technical leader. In 2018, Woods was accused of manipulating data. Woods was reinstated after a review. According to CBI, the results of the 2018 review were not escalated to the former CBI director. 

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In September 2023, the report says, an intern uncovered an anomaly in past DNA work of Woods during a research project on sex assault kits. The current CBI director requested an internal affairs investigation soon after. 

CBI plans to have an external entity conduct an independent investigation into the root cause of Woods’ misconduct. In the ACLU’s letter to CBI, staff attorneys said they’re encouraged CBI is preparing to conduct an independent investigation, but they have concerns about the scope. 

“The proposed audit covers only a two-year period, between 2022 and 2024, when Ms. Woods’ misconduct was first reported in 2014. The audit will also be overseen by CBI executive staff, compromising its independence,” said a press release from ACLU on Tuesday. 

ACLU and KWIP also say as they began investigating how CBI allowed Woods’s misconduct to go on for years, they discovered CBI had apparently been out of compliance with requirements of its federal funding that are designed to prevent this kind of misconduct. 

“CBI allowed Missy Woods to alter forensic evidence for years. This misconduct brings CBI’s entire forensic operation into question, and a thorough, independent audit, followed by full disclosure of the results to stakeholders and the public is essential,” said Emma Mclean-Riggs, ACLU of Colorado staff attorney.

According to the letter, federal law required CBI to certify that a “government entity exists and an appropriate process is in place to conduct independent external investigations into allegations of serious negligence or misconduct substantially affecting the integrity of the forensic results committed by employees.”

CBI named Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in its grant applications as the government entity that would conduct investigations, according to ACLU, but the sheriff’s office never had a process in place to investigate misconduct at CBI’s laboratories.

9NEWS received a copy of the letter from ACLU around 2 p.m. Tuesday and reached out to CBI for a comment.

The internal affairs investigation did not find evidence Woods falsified DNA matches, but instead she deviated from standard testing protocols. A criminal investigation is still ongoing.