Denver DNA analyst's false evidence affected over 1,000 cases, including sex crimes — costing the state $11 million and depriving survivors of justice

Woods was originally charged with 102 felony counts related to her work in 53 criminal cases — which could have affected many more between 2008 and 2023, according to the State of Colorado District Attorney report. She pleaded guilty to four felony charges: perjury, forgery of government documents, cybercrime and attempting to influence a public servant.

The state is now left to reinvestigate the cases — and it could cost taxpayers millions.

Thirteen previously closed sexual-assault cases in Denver, for example, have been reopened, three of which have been identified as high-risk.

Million-dollar bills and broken trust

Investigators ultimately identified 1,045 cases with problems connected to Woods’ work, although the extent of the misconduct within those cases varies. Now, Denver is getting a glimpse of what a more comprehensive review could uncover — and the development could have significant financial consequences for Colorado.

In dozens of sexual assault cases, Woods falsely said she found no male DNA in some of her testing when she had, in fact, found male DNA — depriving investigators of information key to their cases.

The Denver Crime Lab had previously asked CBI to return rape kits and other evidence. After reviewing Woods’ work, Denver officials selected 13 sexual-assault cases for retesting, all of which have now been reopened as active investigations and some of which have already produced new leads.

Of the 13 cases, DNA testing produced 11 profiles eligible for entry into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. Six generated investigative leads connecting the evidence to potential suspects or other investigations.

A Colorado judge has also dismissed a child sexual-assault case in August after finding that the state’s handling of evidence connected to Woods’ work amounted to “outrageous government conduct.”

“At its core, this case is about trust — the extraordinary trust placed in Ms. Woods, and her breach of that trust,” Jefferson County District Judge Andrew Poland reportedly said before delivering Woods’ sentence, adding that the “institutional harm” she inflicted was even greater than the millions it has already cost the state, according to the Colorado Sun.

The state had previously approved about $7.5 million for CBI to address the fallout from Woods’s work. The Office of Alternate Defense Counsel has reported that it had already spent nearly $500,000 on Woods-related cases as of March. And the office and the State Public Defender reportedly requested another $2 million in funding for the work.

The Colorado Sun reported that CBI had estimated the fiscal costs associated with Woods’ work at $11,071,486 through the end of 2024.

If prosecutors pursue newly developed leads, cases that had been dormant could require investigators, prosecutors, defense attorneys, forensic scientists and courts to devote additional resources. And if people whose cases were affected successfully bring legal claims against the state, taxpayers could ultimately be responsible for another significant portion of the bill.

While the state continues to absorb the costs of investigating potentially compromised cases, however, you can’t put a price on the emotional toll the scandal has taken.

“Can we trust our criminal justice system?” Chief Deputy District Attorney Darren Kafka has asked, the Denver Post reported. “Or even to some, can we trust science? Sowing this doubt will be Ms. Woods’ legacy.”

According to The Sun, he continued that “it’s barely comprehensible at all and yet its impact on victims who are never believed … on defendants who must question if they were treated fairly, and the forensic law enforcement, defense, and court personnel who must pick up the pieces, is extensive.”

Reopening sexual assault cases costs survivors, too

Survivors end up paying the biggest price — in every sense.

Federal law only states that survivors don’t have to pay for sexual assault evidence kits. When it comes down to everything else involved in investigating a sexual assault case, however, where the assault occurs determines what care is covered. While some states may cover STI testing, medication and other related medical services, others only cover evidence collection.

In fact, a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of insurance claim data from 2016 to 2018 finds that 83% of women who received a sexual violence diagnosis were billed for treatment. Another 2019 analysis of emergency room department data finds that the average bill for sexual assault survivors is $3,551.

In an investigation into the cost of sexual assault amid the “Cornell Seven” case, Cosmopolitan interviewed a Colorado sexual assault survivor who owed $5,821.55 for admission to the emergency room and $82.85 to the pharmacy for the medications. After her parents’ insurance, she was still responsible for $3,247.10.

But the financial reckoning is only beginning — especially for survivors whose cases are resurfaced.

Elizabeth Newman, Director of Public Policy for the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, told the Denver Gazette that the survivors impacted by Woods’ work may be left retraumatized, being brought back into cases they thought were over.