Sexual Assault Evidence Assessment, Interpretation & Case Impact

Joanne Archambault, Sgt.(Ret.), SDPD Sex Crimes Unit

Sex offenders rarely use weapons other than verbal threats and hands, or intoxicating substances, such as drugs and alcohol. Law enforcement and forensic examiners are often times so focused on the collection of evidence such as semen and trace, evidence most often used to identify an assailant, they overlook the subtle signs of force and injury such as scratches, fingerprint marks, a missing button from a blouse or the stretched elastic on a victim’s panties, evidence that can be used to overcome a consent defense, the most common defense used by sex offenders.
 
This workshop will identify all aspects of evidence that might be found in a sexual assault, specifically focusing on the differences needed to corroborate sexual assaults involving consent defenses and those where the assailant’s identity is in question.