Module 5
Medical Forensic Sexual Assault Examinations: What Are They, and What Can They Tell the Courts?

The SANE as an Expert Witness

A SANE may be qualified as an expert based on her training and experience. A SANE who has conducted multiple medical forensic sexual assault examinations, participates in continuing education, and uses the latest equipment is an expert. An ER or private doctor who lacks specialized training and has conducted only a few of these examinations is not, nor is an inexperienced SANE.

If the treating SANE is qualified as an expert, she may testify as a fact witness about anything said or observed during the examination and, as an expert, she may offer a limited opinion as to the cause of any injuries observed.

For example:

  • If the examination revealed bruises on the patient’s body, a treating SANE qualified as an expert may offer an opinion that the bruises were caused by blunt force trauma, but nothing more detailed than that.  
  • If the treating SANE observed and documented petechiae -- pinpoint round spots that appear on the skin as a result of bleeding – around the victim’s eyes, the SANE may testify as to whether or not the observed injury is consistent with the patient’s account of strangulation, and with the injuries related to strangulation described in the medical literature.

An expert SANE may also explain aspects of the medical forensic examination that may be puzzling to judges and jurors. For example, the SANE may explain that it is common for a sexual assault victim to delay reporting or seeking medical care, to display nervous laughter or no emotion at all during the examination, and to have no physical or genital injuries after the assault.

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