The former Colorado Bureau of Investigation DNA expert charged with more than 100 felonies entered a plea of not guilty to all of them Wednesday in a packed Jefferson County courtroom.

The plea was entered by her defense attorney Tom Ward.

Yvonne Woods, who goes by the name Missy, was the state’s former top DNA scientist at CBI’s forensic lab. She did not speak except to tell Jefferson County District Judge Andrew Poland she understood the proceedings and that she was waiving her right to a speedy trial. Colorado law requires a defendant’s trial happen within six months of a plea being entered.

“Yes, your honor,” she replied.

Poland estimated her trial could last five weeks and set dates from Sept. 24 through Oct. 30.

It has been 385 days between arrest and arraignment with multiple postponements over the course of the past 13 months in a case that has rocked the Colorado judicial system and unleashed an unprecedented scandal.

Woods turned herself into Jefferson County authorities on Jan. 22, 2025, and was charged with 102 felonies, including one count of cybercrime, one count of first-degree perjury, 48 counts of attempt to influence a public servant and 52 counts of forgery.

At a previously scheduled arraignment in December, both the defense and the prosecution appeared to be willing to negotiate a plea arrangement rather than take the case to what would be a lengthy trial.

But on Wednesday there was no mention of a plea deal.

At the conclusion of the brief hearing, Woods exited with her defense team and was greeted by a large group of supporters.

It has been a striking fall from grace for Woods, once considered the go-to expert in Colorado in DNA.

In September 2023, an intern in the CBI forensic lab, alerted supervisors about concerns with Woods’ work. From there, a years-long investigation unfolded, revealing alleged deletions, alterations and other problems in more than 1,000 cases dating back nearly three decades, affecting a still unknown number of past criminal cases.

CBI has now said it has found 1,045 impacted cases or roughly one-in-10 of the more than 10,780 cases she worked during her career. She retired with a state pension just prior to the scandal becoming public rather than be fired.

The criminal charges reflect 58 instances of alleged misconduct.

The scandal has sparked significant concern within the state judicial system that defendants convicted based on DNA compromised by Woods have been falsely imprisoned.

One such case is winding its way through the Boulder County court system as Michael Clark is scheduled to be retried for a 1994 murder after his first conviction was vacated last year due to inconsistencies in DNA testing by Woods. Clark was convicted in 2012 largely on the strength of Woods’ testimony and sent away for life without parole.

He was freed from prison on bond as he awaits a second trial.

There is also worry that suspects who might have been prosecuted evaded arrest because she allegedly reported less DNA than was actually present so she would not have to test it.

The full scope of the impact of her alleged faulty testing remains unknown as CBI has not yet revealed to the public the specific details on what she did and which cases have been impacted. Officials have said those details will be made public once the criminal case against Woods is concluded.