Evidence will be retested in Boulder murder case after investigation opened into DNA analyst

BOULDER, Colo. — Evidence will be retested in a 30-year-old murder case in Boulder County now that the DNA analyst is under criminal investigation. 

Yvonne “Missy” Woods’ analysis helped police arrest Michael Clark in 2012 after a 1994 murder had gone unsolved for more than a decade. 

About a year ago, CBI announced that Woods was under criminal investigation after an internal process discovered anomalies in her work. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has said Woods manipulated and deleted data in more than 800 cases. A review of the paper casefiles from 1994 through 2008 continues. The criminal investigation into her misconduct is still ongoing.

Clark has been in prison for 12 years. A jury found him guilty in 2012 for shooting and killing a man named Marty Grisham at an apartment in Boulder in 1994. 

Clark and his attorney, Adam Frank, filed a motion this summer to overturn his conviction. The motion claimed Clark is in prison for a crime he didn’t commit because Woods gave false testimony on the DNA. According to the motion, her false DNA opinion is the reason Clark was charged with Grisham’s murder and convicted. 

Frank believes his client wouldn’t be in prison if the information about Woods’ misconduct had been known during the trial.

The case was largely based on circumstantial evidence. Boulder police had said Clark, who at the time was friends with Grisham’s daughter, had forged checks he stole from Grisham’s apartment. In addition to this, prosecutors felt there were a number of circumstances that together helped them charge Clark with first-degree murder.

After the motion to overturn and discussions with the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, evidence in the murder case will be retested at a lab that isn’t operated by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. 

“In working with the District Attorney’s office, we agreed that any retesting that should be done, should be done by an outside lab, not CBI, and they agreed with that,” Frank said.

Specifically, a lab will retest a Carmex lip balm container and see if there’s still DNA there. 

The evidence in 30 years old. Frank said it is possible there is no DNA left. 

“It may be that there are no more results that can be found. It may be that this points to the person who actually did it. But regardless, this was a step the prosecution decided it needed to do and we’re happy that it’s moving forward,” he said. 

Frank has questioned the DNA evidence for years. What happens after the retesting, he said, is up to the district attorney. The parties expect the test results will be available in early January. 

According to the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, they have been in contact with Clark’s attorney and have had productive discussions. 

“As you will recall, there are a number of pending issues in that case, including claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and juror misconduct,” a DA’s office spokesperson said. “Those are in addition to the assertions about the DNA evidence. The process for collecting all the physical evidence and determining what is available for further analysis is underway; it will take some time. We will have additional updates in the weeks ahead.”

CBI’s DNA forensics team identified the following types of manipulation in hundreds of cases handled by Woods: 

• Deleted and altered data that concealed Woods’ tampering with controls.
• Deleted data that concealed Woods’ failure to troubleshoot issues within the testing process.
• Failed to provide thorough documentation in the case record related to certain tests performed.

CBI has no evidence Woods has falsified DNA matches. 

“CBI has disclosed that this misconduct, which was known to CBI, may extend back as far as 2014 and 2018. These issues were never reported to prosecutors, defense attorneys or the courts throughout Colorado,” Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty said. “As a result, I expect that many closed cases will require re-examination and be challenged in court, along with the overall integrity of the processes at the State’s Lab. The significant impact for victims, defendants, and prosecutor’s offices is incredibly concerning. I am glad that CBI is auditing the results of all tests to ensure the integrity of the State’s Lab. That is critical to restoring public trust in the system; it is going to require time, transparency, and accountability.”