Editor's note: This story contains details of sexual assault and might be difficult for some readers.
It currently takes around a year and a half for Colorado to test DNA evidence submitted from rape kits, delaying the finalization of criminal investigations and potential criminal charges.
“It's torture. I worry if my perpetrator is victimizing others, I worry my perpetrator will come back (to) me in retaliation,” said Miranda Spencer during testimony last week before the legislature’s Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee. Lawmakers were gathered to hear an annual briefing from the Department of Public Safety.
She said it’s been more than 400 days since she was raped.
“I sat in a hospital terrified, confused, shocked, and broken after going on a Bumble date that would end up being the biggest regret of my life … I was drugged with fentanyl, sexually assaulted, and left incapacitated in my own vomit in my home, and was very fortunate to have been discovered by a friend,” she told the panel.
Spencer said waiting for the rape kit results has left her feeling unsafe everywhere.
“In my own home, not even in my own body,’ she said. “I'm a single mother and constantly worry about my safety and even more, the safety of my daughter, too.”
The head of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said the already long backlog has doubled in the last year, in part because of the discovery that former CBI forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Wood manipulated more than a thousand DNA test results.
“That has basically taken 50 percent of our DNA scientists off the bench just to review those cases that former DNA scientists did,” said CBI director Chris Schaefer.
Schaefer said most of the DNA scientists conducting the review will be able to return to their regular duties this spring, and that eight new hires will also help address the backlog. The goal is to get rape kits processed within 90 days.
“Everyone within CBI and everyone within law enforcement is going to say this is unacceptable,” Schaefer told lawmakers.
Colorado Department of Public Safety Executive Director Stan Hilkey said it was heartbreaking to hear Spencer’s story and that his department is trying to address the problem.
“It's one that we're determined to do everything that we can to fix and none of the things that you'll hear today probably are going to be comforting,” he said.
As of Wednesday, Hilkey said the wait time to test a new kit is 517 days.
Democratic Rep. Jenny Willford is aware of the situation all too well. She said she was sexually assaulted by a Lyft driver last February and is still waiting for the results of her DNA evidence.
“No sex assault survivor should have to wait 517 days. 517 days without protection, without charges, without arrest, without a case moving forward. This delay is inhumane and is a serious public safety risk. We have to do better,” she said in a statement to CPR News.
Willford plans to unveil a bill later this session to require ride-share companies to do more to ensure passenger safety. She's also filing a lawsuit.
CPR does not normally identify the victims of sexual assault, however Spencer and Willford have both shared their stories publicly.
Over the next week, lawmakers are meeting with the Governor’s staff to discuss the next steps.
“Do we need to pass a bill to set goals, as well as benchmarks and timing, as to when we will get the backlog under control?” asked Democratic Assistant House Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon of Denver.
The Department of Public Safety said they’ve asked for additional money in the state budget to outsource some of the testing and are still figuring out the total costs to clear the backlog.
Democratic Rep. Lorena Garcia of Adams County said she wants to hear a more aggressive plea for resources.
“I want to feel the urgency, which I don't feel,” she said. “I don't see, and I haven't seen since I've been serving, that the urgency of addressing sexual assault, rape, molestation is a priority.”
Republican Rep. Matt Soper of Delta said he also wants assurances that DNA evidence will not be tampered with in the future.
“What is the cost of re-testing these cases, but more importantly, what mechanisms have you and the Department of Public Safety adopted to ensure the people of Colorado that this will never happen again? Because this not only impacts those who've been accused of a crime, this also impacts victims,” he asked Schaefer, the director of CBI.
The Department said it’s hired an outside firm to look at their processes. State lawmakers also raised the idea of having the state auditor’s office conduct an audit.
