A SANE who did not conduct the examination but who has the experience and expertise to be qualified as an expert may, in response to questions based on the facts offered in evidence, offer a limited opinion on the examination findings, and, like the treating SANE qualified as an expert, explain puzzling aspects of the examination. An expert SANE can also help the judge and jury understand counter-intuitive victim behavior that may have been an issue in the case, such as post-assault contact with the perpetrator or why the victim displayed a flat affect while testifying.

A non-treating expert SANE may also be called to testify in a case in which there was no medical forensic examination, either because the victim never sought medical treatment or sought treatment after the cutoff time for a forensic examination. The SANE can minimize the “CSI Effect”— the expectation based on the CSI television show that extensive forensic evidence will always be presented to “prove” the case.

The expert SANE can explain that many victims live in communities that cannot afford to establish or maintain SANE programs, or in rural or tribal communities with little access to medical care. The SANE can explain that victims often do not seek medical care because they fear the police, fear not being believed, or fear being deported. Victims assaulted by someone they know well may require time to come to grips with the fact that someone they trusted, such as a friend or intimate partner, betrayed them.