Judge Changes Terms of "Missy" Woods' Bail

The scandal involving Yvonne "Missy" Woods has rocked both the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the justice system in the Rocky Mountain State to their cores. Since she was formally charged by Jefferson County DA Alexis King with more than 100 felony counts in January lawyers, judges, the CBI leadership and many more have been wringing their hands wondering about the implications of such wide-ranging fraud and trying to contain the damage. In this post, the team at your favorite bail bond company takes a look at this unfolding judicial nightmare.

First Things First: What Happened?

Why would someone do such a thing? In her case, the indictments suggest she was motivated by a desire to be seen as a highly productive analyst who helped prosecutors put people behind bars and close cases. And that she did, even if, as prosecutors allege, she had to fudge DNA tests to get the results she was after.

While her alleged fraud goes back many years, it wasn't until September 2023 that a CBI intern discovered discrepancies in her work and alerted higher-ups. They then conducted a year-long investigation that turned up dozens of other discrepancies in her work over the years and which led to her being charged in January 2025.

"The investigation revealed evidence of instances where Woods altered and deleted quantification values, re-ran entire batches of DNA multiple times without any documentation and concealed possible contamination.

Additionally, the affidavit alleges that in over 30 sexual assault cases, Woods deleted specific values in samples and submitted reports to agencies that reflected, “No Male DNA Found,” when in fact small amounts of male DNA were present and/or possible contamination was present and additional troubleshooting and retesting was required."

—First Juducial District, State of Colorado

Judge Alters Woods' Bail

When the indictments against Woods were handed down in January she was out of the country. As such the judge in the case set her bail at $50,000 cash. However, when Woods learned she had been charged she got on a plane almost immediately, returned to Colorado and surrendered herself to the court.

Because of this Jefferson County judge Graham Peper changed her bail to make it more favorable. Whereas before he demanded $50,000 in cash, after her surrender he changed it to allow her to post a $50,000 surety bond instead of cash. This would enable her to post bail with the help of a bonding company. (Though she was also ordered to turn in her passport to avoid the possibility of flight.)

Missy Woods' Surety Bond Details

Where Things Stand

Judge Graham Peper's decision to alter the terms of Missy Woods' bail was based on the swift action she took to turn herself in once the charges against her were revealed. Still, many people took issue with the judge's decision citing the potentially devastating impact falsified DNA evidence may have already had on the lives of numerous defendants. Nonetheless, Woods was able to find a bail bond agent to work with and was released from jail on a surety bond the day after the judge altered her bail conditions.

The Implications of Woods' Alleged Fraud on Criminal Cases

Woods' actions have sent shockwaves through the entire justice system in Colorado.

In one case prosecutors in Douglas County decided to offer a defendant a lesser charge and lighter prison sentence due to the possibility that Woods had altered the DNA evidence in his case. That defendant is accused of killing one Roger Dean in 1985.

In another case, Garret Coughlin, who had been found guilty of killing 3 people in 2017 largely on the strength of DNA evidence processed by Woods, was recently offered a plea deal, which he accepted. He had originally been sentenced to life in prison but that was reduced to 42 years as a result of the plea deal.

And in yet another case the Boulder County DA ordered new testing be done on DNA evidence used in the case against Michael Clark, who had been convicted in 2012 of a 1994 murder in Boulder. The DA cited Woods' involvement with the original DNA testing as reason for ordering new tests.

There are dozens of other cases where defense attorneys are sifting through the evidence to determine if they should ask for new trials or outright dismissals, and this has many victims' rights groups understandably upset.