A Jefferson County district judge on Thursday delayed a preliminary hearing in the case against former Colorado Bureau of Investigation forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods due to the massive scope and seriousness of her alleged crimes.

A new hearing date has been scheduled for May 9. 

Only one of the 102 counts against her — a cybercrime allegation, which is the most serious — will be heard at the May hearing, as it is the only charge that requires one, said District Court Judge Graham Peper during the brief hearing in Jefferson County on Thursday.

A preliminary hearing in the sweeping case against Woods, once a revered forensic DNA scientist at CBI who had handled more than 10,780 cases in her 29-year career, was initially set for Thursday but the defense said it needed more time.

During preliminary hearings, prosecutors present evidence to a judge, who decides if there’s enough to send the case to trial.

“Due process requires a continuance,” Peper agreed.

Senior District Attorney Darren Kafka said he had no objection to the extension.

Woods appeared in person, but did not speak in court. She looked composed but grim and was flanked by her defense attorneys Lindsay Brown and Tom Ward.

Woods was charged last month in connection with years of alleged misconduct within the CBI lab as she handled DNA evidence in criminal cases across the state, including murders and sexual assaults.

She faces 52 counts of attempting to influence a public servant, 48 counts of forgery and one each of perjury and cybercrime. She turned herself into Jefferson County authorities Jan. 22 and was released on bail the following day.

The charges came after a more than year-long outside inquiry by South Dakota investigators to determine if potential criminal wrongdoing had occurred.

Previously, CBI acknowledged that through its own internal review, 1,003 “anomalies” — or irregularities — had been found in her work dating back decades. That translates to roughly one in 10 problems uncovered in the 10,780 cases she worked on during her 29-year career at the CBI lab.

When the scandal first broke in November 2023, it was initially believed within the judicial system that Woods’ actions only involved deleting data and skipping steps to save time.

But the indictment revealed that, in some cases she reported there was no DNA found when, in fact, it was present but never tested.

Problems with her work were flagged by colleagues in both 2014 and 2018 but she was allowed to continue at CBI without consequence and prosecutors and defense attorneys have said they were never informed. It was not until the fall of 2023 when an intern at the lab voiced concern and decades of alleged misconduct became public.

Woods was allowed to retire with her pension just before the scandal broke.

While the final toll to Colorado’s judicial system remains unknown, effects are already being felt. In at least three murder cases so far, defendants were allowed to plead to reduced charges with lighter sentences as prosecutors conceded they were reluctant to risk trial because of potential jury mistrust of DNA analyses by CBI.

On Thursday, Colorado Public Radio reported that the Boulder County Sheriff said his department will no longer use the CBI lab for DNA testing, citing both concerns about potential mismanagement at the agency and a backlog of more than 500 days on Colorado rape kits. CBI has said the near doubling of time it now takes to process rape kits was due to analysts in the lab being diverted to review Woods’s past work.

The rape kit backlog at CBI was first reported Jan. 9 by The Denver Gazette.

Separately, an inmate who has been imprisoned since 2012 for a Boulder murder he said he did not commit has contended he was wrongly convicted largely on the strength of DNA testimony by Woods. Michael Clark has asked for his conviction to be overturned, or he be allowed a retrial. Retesting of DNA in the case has been ordered by the Boulder District Attorney and a hearing is scheduled for late May.