The office of the Sheriff of Boulder County will no longer rely on a State Laboratory for DNA tests, while the Colorado Bureau of Investigation continues to struggle with a backlog of forensic exams for sexual violence.
Sheriff Curtis Johnson wrote in a letter of 10 February to CBI director Chris Shaefer that the agency will instead send genetic material and other evidence to the Jefferson County Regional Crime Laboratory.
“I in no way want the strong working relationship between the Sheriff’s Office by Boulder County and CBI,” Johnson wrote in the letter shared by CBI spokesperson Rob Low. “I hope that CBI will be able to overcome the recent challenges with DNA analysis and processing times for sexual violence.”
Incoming forensic exams for sexual attacks, generally known as rape kits, take the agency on average more than 500 days to process. The agency said in a statement that it hopes to halve the lead times in the following year and ultimately reduce waiting for tests to 90 days with the help of funds reserved by the Wetgevers of Colorado.
CBI has attributed the disadvantage to the resource-intensive re-examination of DNA tests completed by cessed former lab analyst Yvonne “Missy” Woods, accused of 102 crimes in January for incorrectly handy DNA tests in hundreds of criminal cases in its decades of career With her decades. The desk.
Johnson wrote that the Sheriff office will continue to rely on CBI for services that are not supplied by the Jefferson County Lab, including toxicology and fire brigade, explosive, shot residues and trace tests.
“We cannot talk about the operational decisions of other agencies; However, we want to emphasize that the CBI is committed to the integrity and accuracy of testing, “the agency said in a statement.
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