The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is taking 500-plus days on average to process kits used to preserve evidence of sexual assault — almost six times as long as the division’s stated goal.
The backlog of the exams, commonly referred to as rape kits, was exacerbated by a CBI scandal in which a lab analyst, Yvonne “Missy” Woods, was found to have manipulated the results of more than 1,000 DNA tests over a long period. The fallout has included widespread retesting of Woods’ assigned cases, officials said.
But even before the full scope of that misconduct was uncovered, the division’s backlog for processing the kits stood at 275 days — or three times as long as the state’s goal of 90 days, officials testified last week to a legislative committee. Now, processing takes 517 days.
The backlog was highlighted during an annual Department of Public Safety oversight hearing with state lawmakers on Wednesday. But it came up only after a sexual assault survivor testified to waiting more than 400 days — and counting — for DNA test results after she was drugged and attacked, with no progress on her case.
“For over 400 days, I’ve not felt safe in public, in my own home — not even in my own body,” said Miranda Spencer, a 34-year-old from Denver, during the joint meeting of the House and Senate judiciary committees.
She described the experience as a “real-life nightmare” that has her worried not only for her safety but also for that of her young daughter.
In an interview with The Denver Post, Spencer recalled sitting in the hospital in late 2023, her head spinning as she was told it would be at least 10 months before her exam was processed. She’s been calling her case’s detective regularly since then for updates, she said, making sure the case doesn’t fall through the cracks, only to be told it’s at the mercy of the CBI lab.
The testimony before the Joint Judiciary Committee refocused a hearing that had otherwise highlighted some of the state’s progress in reducing crime, including auto thefts.
Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called it “unconscionable” that the department and the CBI didn’t address the backlog head-on at the hearing — and only responded to the survivor’s testimony. The safety department is led by executive director Stan Hilkey, and the CBI is led by director Chris Schaefer.
She and other members of the committee promised to bring direct focus on the issue.
“There are clear questions of accountability and transparency that both (Schaefer) and Director Hilkey and, ultimately, Gov. (Jared) Polis, will have to address,” Gonzales said in an interview. “It’s hard to say we’re striving for Colorado to become one of the 10 safest states in the country when we’re looking at delays of 517 days to process a rape kit. That goal, with that existing wait time, is just in direct conflict with one another.”
Hilkey said during the hearing that the CBI couldn’t solve the problem immediately because of the time it takes to train new analysts and the time to process the kits themselves. Schaefer told the committee that the fastest he’s ever seen a kit processed is three days, and that’s with labs running 24 hours a day.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re in a position today where, if you gave us $5 million right now, we’d be able to fix the problem immediately,” Hilkey said. “It’s a problem of time, getting the scientists on board (and) doing the process.”
Officials testified that they could fast-track some cases when there are court deadlines nearing or other prioritizing circumstances.
Rep. Jenny Willford, a Northglenn Democrat who does not sit on the House Judiciary Committee, said several lawmakers were considering legislation to address the problem. The issue has particular meaning for her: She was sexually assaulted last February, she said, and is still waiting for her kit to be processed.
“Having no answers means that I feel like my life is on hold and it’s impossible to move forward,” Willford said in a statement. “I don’t wish this experience on anyone. The backlog of DNA cases and rape kits is unacceptable and the state needs to take clearing the backlog seriously.”
Hilkey said the department pulled 15 scientists who were in training to do live casework so they could review the cases handled by Woods, the analyst who manipulated data, to find the scope of the misconduct. Investigators found more than 1,000 “impacted cases” over Woods’ nearly 30-year career, the CBI announced last month.
That diversion left 16 scientists to handle the workload of new cases, supercharging the backlog. The department has since returned those tasked with case review to training and is working to hire more scientists.
Officials are also exploring other options to clear the backlog and return to the 90-day standard, they said.
“We want to make sure we are serving victims in all ways,” Hilkey testified about sexual assault cases. “… This crime, we can’t hardly think of — perhaps besides murder — anything that’s more heinous or violating of the people of our state, and we want to get back toward respecting that and honoring that by getting back to a reasonable standard.”
Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican on the House committee, said he was “shocked’ by the backlog.
“This is a real crime that the state of Colorado has to make a top priority,” he said in an interview Monday. “We need to shorten the timeline for rape kits, but we also need to deal with what happened with this lab analyst.”
Soper raised the dual priorities of the criminal justice system, each put in jeopardy by Woods’ misconduct: avoiding sending an innocent person to prison, while also ensuring speedy justice. He said he planned to run a bill requiring CBI to notify all affected parties — defendants, prosecutors and victims — when a data compromise happens.
Spencer, the assault victim, questioned in the interview what the testing delay would mean for other survivors of a crime that’s already underreported. She felt it was her civic duty to testify to the problem, she said, expressing hope that doing so would spur government officials to act.
The backlog isn’t just a bureaucratic delay, she said. It represents people who cannot get justice and rapists allowed to live their lives freely.
“It’s a systemic thing of how victims are treated,” Spencer said. “Honestly, I wouldn’t believe it if someone told me they went through (my experience) to report a rape. It’s so inhumane.”
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