DENVER (KDVR) — The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is continuing its over-a-year-long response to remediate forensic science operations after anomalies were found in a now-former scientist's work. The agency announced Tuesday it hired an out-of-state firm to assess the agency's forensic science division. In December, CBI released information about a comprehensive review of Yvonne "Missy" Woods' work at the agency. Woods worked at the agency for nearly 30 years and on Dec. 17, 2024, CBI said 1,003 cases were impacted by her actions. ‘An elephant is not a person’: Colorado Supreme Court denies appeal over zoo containment On Tuesday, CBI said it had hired a Wisconsin consulting firm called Forward Resolutions LLC to assess CBI's "forensic services and operations as part of its promise for transparency, accountability, and providing accurate scientific results." CBI did not share how much the contract with the firm will cost the government agency. The Colorado agency said Forward Resolutions LLC will completely assess CBI policies, procedures and operational performance within the forensics unit. “Forward Resolutions LLC’s comprehensive plan will give CBI the feedback it has been seeking to make sure we have policies and procedures in place to successfully deliver reliable scientific results to the Colorado criminal justice community,” said CBI Director Chris Schaefer in a release. “CBI promised to hold itself accountable in a transparent manner to maintain public trust and this contract proves action will always follow our words.” The contracted firm will be conducting interviews, reviewing policies, assessing operations and surveying lab employees and stakeholders as part of the review. CBI said its goal with the outside firm's assessment is to assess "whether CBI is adhering to industry best practices and provides recommendations for improvements." The firm promised to deliver assessment results within 85 working days of the contract start, CBI said Tuesday. Former scientist's work anomalies impacted cases CBI first brought up the potential case impacts on Nov. 6, 2023, when the agency announced Woods no longer worked at the agency because she had retired. CBI said Tuesday that Woods retired before an internal affairs investigation was completed, and that investigation led to CBI discovering the anomalies in Woods' forensic work. CBI's review did not show evidence of falsified DNA matches or fabricated DNA profiles from Woods. However, the agency found that she “deviated from standard testing protocols and cut corners,” which raises concerns about how reliable her testing may have been. Over the years, Woods was connected to some high-profile cases, including the Kobe Bryant sex assault case that was eventually dropped, the Susannah Chase murder case and the Alex Ewing hammer killings case. Both cases hinged on DNA evidence presented at trial. Some cases have been directly impacted already: In June 2024, a man pleaded guilty in Boulder to lesser charges related to the killing of three people in 2017. The case was widely publicized as the first prosecution in the state believed to be impacted by Woods’ work. An internal affairs report showed that Woods "deviated from standard testing protocol and cut corners" in several of her cases, raising concerns about the reliability of DNA that was used to prosecute some individuals. “Following the discovery of Woods’ actions in manipulating DNA analysis data in 2023, CBI is meticulously reviewing all of its testing protocols,” Schaefer said in June 2024. “Not only is Woods’ caseload being reviewed, but we are auditing the results of all current and previous DNA scientists to ensure the integrity of the Lab.” Coworkers had called Woods’ work into question as long ago as 2014. That year, a coworker allegedly questioned how Woods tested evidence in a case and reported those concerns to a technical leader. In reviewing the incident, one individual said she found a deleted value in one dataset. She told the investigators she “felt at the time this was on purpose, but allowed it was possible to accidentally highlight a value and delete it without knowing.” Woods faced similar scrutiny in 2018. She was removed from casework during the investigation but ultimately was reinstated to her original position.