Boulder County Sheriff’s Office cuts ties with CBI for DNA testing

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office is cutting ties with the state’s lab for DNA testing as the fallout over the “Missy” Wood investigation continues to be felt across law enforcement agencies.

In a letter to Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Curtis Schaefer, Boulder Sheriff Curtis Johnson cited “recent challenges with DNA analysis and sexual assault kit processing times” as reasoning behind the switch to the Jefferson County Regional Crime Laboratory.

Denver7 obtained a copy of the letter from the Boulder County Sheriff to CBI Director Curtis Schaefer. Read it in the widget below:

Allegations against Yvonne “Missy Woods,” a former CBI forensic scientist accused of mishandling DNA, came to light in late 2023, when an intern research project discovered “DNA anomalies” within her work. The investigation into Woods claims she impacted more than 1,000 cases. She now faces 102 criminal charges, including cybercrime, perjury, and forgery.

In his letter, Curtis told the CBI director that though he would be looking elsewhere for DNA testing, some services like “fire debris analysis, explosives, toxicology, GSR and trace” will still be done there.

District Attorney of the 20th Judicial District (Boulder County) Michael Dougherty said Friday he supports the move.

“Part of our ability to do justice is impacted by whether the community trusts in the justice system and our processes,” Dougherty said. “And that’s why I’m so concerned about what’s been going on with CBI over the past 13, 14 months because it does undermine the integrity and confidence that people have in the justice system.”

Right now, the state’s rape kit backlog exceeds 500 days.

Dougherty said the Jefferson County Regional Crime Lab promises to provide DNA results in fewer than 100 days.

“Think about asking the government for an answer on something, anything, and the government telling you it’ll take 530 days for us to get back to you. Now, think about it as though you’re a sex assault victim and you’re waiting for DNA results that are going to determine whether a prosecutor’s office has enough to charge someone with a sex assault or not, we’ll be able to go forward to trial or not. That delay is inexcusable,” Dougherty explained.

However, the switch comes at an additional cost to taxpayers. Boulder County Commissioners recently approved a $100,000 annual contract to cover some of the costs for the Jefferson County lab.

“For other agencies, smaller agencies, it’s cost prohibitive,” he said.

Dougherty hopes the state lab will improve with the help from lawmakers, currently working on legislation to address the recent issues.

In response to concerns about turnaround times, CBI said it plans to contract additional outside labs “to eliminate the sex assault kit backlog and cut the turnaround times in half by this time next year…”

But for now, Dougherty said he expects more law enforcement agencies to follow in Boulder’s footsteps.

“We need to make sure this problem is fixed for public safety, for victims, but also for the accused, to make sure we’re getting the right results in our criminal cases,” said Dougherty.