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

Probative Evidence Obtained During a Medical Forensic Sexual Assault Examination

The medical forensic sexual assault examination and evidence collection may yield probative evidence that can be used at a criminal trial, such as DNA extracted from the collection of swabs/scrapings and analyzed by a crime lab. But while this evidence may establish very important aspects of the case, it cannot by itself “prove” that a sexual assault was perpetrated.

Types of probative evidence that the examination may yield:

  • Forensic evidence that can conclusively establish the commission of a sexual act:
    • Example: Semen detected on a swab collected from the victim’s vagina. This may corroborate the victim’s account that she was vaginally penetrated by a perpetrator’s penis. 
  • Forensic evidence that can conclusively establish the identity of the person who engaged in sexual activity with the victim
    • Example: DNA profile extracted from hair found on the victim’s clothes or extracted from semen detected on a swab from the victim’s vagina. This DNA may corroborate the victim’s account that the perpetrator she identified was in fact the individual who penetrated her vagina with his penis. This evidence makes it difficult for the perpetrator to assert that he did not engage in sexual activity with the victim or that he was not at the crime scene.
  • Documentation and preservation of injury and state-of-mind evidence
    • Example: Photographs or medical record descriptions of bruising to the victim’s arms may corroborate the victim’s account that the perpetrator forcefully held the victim’s arms to prevent the victim from getting away.
  • Documentation of the victim’s state of mind and demeanor close to the time of the assault and/or during the examination.
    • Example: Medical record descriptions of the victim’s disheveled appearance, periodic crying spells, and inability to concentrate may corroborate the victim’s account of the victim’s state of mind in the immediate aftermath of the sexual assault.

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