How Do You Challenge SANE Exam Evidence in Florida? (2026)

Rewrite/update date: November 2, 2026. Originally published in February 2025.

As founder of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., a Tampa criminal defense firm, and a former Major Crimes Unit attorney who handled sex crime and child abuse cases, I have cross-examined sexual assault nurse examiners in Hillsborough County courtrooms for more than 25 years. Prosecutors present the SANE report as science. Our attorneys treat it as what it is: one examiner’s observations and opinions, each of which can be tested against the photographs, the medical literature, and the law of evidence.

What is a SANE exam?

A SANE exam is a forensic medical examination performed after a reported sexual assault by a registered nurse with specialized training. The nurse takes a history from the patient, examines the body for injury, photographs findings, often with a magnifying colposcope, and collects swabs and clothing into a sexual assault kit for DNA testing. The exam serves two purposes at once: medical care for the patient and evidence collection for a possible prosecution.

Florida pays for these exams. Under section 960.28, Florida Statutes, the state’s Crime Victims’ Services Office pays up to $1,000 for the initial forensic examination of a sexual battery victim, whether or not the person reports to police or cooperates with a prosecution. That rule means many exams happen before any investigation, and the kit may sit in storage until the person decides whether to report.

Where are SANE exams done in Hillsborough County?

In Hillsborough County, adult forensic exams are performed mainly by certified nurses at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, which runs its main sexual assault services site in North Tampa and opened a second site in Ruskin in 2023. The North Tampa location conducted 334 forensic exams in 2022, according to WUSF reporting on the Ruskin expansion. Exams of children are usually done by nurse practitioners and physicians on the local Child Protection Team, often at Tampa General Hospital.

Knowing who did the exam matters, because different examiners follow different protocols and keep different records. Our attorneys request the full exam file, including the intake history form, every photograph, the kit inventory, and the examiner’s training records, not just the narrative summary the State attaches to its discovery.

Does an injury on a SANE exam prove sexual assault?

No. Genital injury is common after consensual sex, so an injury alone does not show that sex was forced. In a 2009 study in the Journal of Forensic Nursing, Marilyn Sommers and colleagues gave forensic sexual assault examinations to 120 healthy women after consensual intercourse and found at least one anogenital injury in 55% of them, as reported in Health Disparities in the Forensic Sexual Assault Examination Related to Skin Color. The same study found injuries in 68% of white participants and 43% of Black participants, concluding that dark skin color predicted fewer detected injuries, which shows how much the findings depend on the examination itself.

The reverse is also true. Many people who report an assault have no injury at all, and Florida law does not require one. For the defense, the point is narrower: when the State calls an injury “consistent with” sexual battery, the honest follow-up is that it is equally consistent with consensual sex. Our attorneys make that point through the medical literature and, when the case warrants it, through an independent expert.

How many sexual assault kits does Florida test?

Florida tracks every kit through the FL Track-Kit system required by section 943.326, Florida Statutes. From June 8, 2022, through August 31, 2024, law enforcement submitted 5,610 sexual assault kits to labs and 5,104 had completed analysis, according to FDLE’s sexual assault kit tracking data. During the same period, 770 kits were collected from people who had not reported to law enforcement.

Those numbers matter in individual cases. A kit that took months to reach the lab, sat unreported, or was tested only after charges were filed raises chain-of-custody and storage questions. Our attorneys trace each kit through its tracking record and the lab’s documentation before accepting the DNA result.

Can a SANE nurse testify about what the accuser said?

Sometimes, but the rules are strict. Under section 90.803(4), Florida Statutes, statements made for medical diagnosis or treatment can be admitted as an exception to the hearsay rule, but only insofar as they are reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment. Details that serve the investigation rather than the medical care fall outside that exception.

The Confrontation Clause adds a second limit. In Hernandez v. State, 946 So. 2d 1270 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007), Hillsborough County deputies arranged for a Child Protection Team nurse practitioner to examine a child at Tampa General Hospital, and a deputy waited until the exam was done. The Second District held that the nurse’s questioning was “the functional equivalent of a police interrogation,” so the statements to her were testimonial, and reversed for a new trial because the defendant never had a chance to cross-examine the people who made them. When an exam is arranged and attended by law enforcement, our attorneys use Hernandez to keep out statements from anyone who does not testify. When the accuser is a child, the same confrontation rules apply to Child Protection Team interviews, as our guide to how to fight child hearsay in a Florida sex case explains.

Can a SANE nurse say the accuser was assaulted?

No, not when the opinion rests on the accuser’s own account. A nurse may describe the findings and explain that some assaults leave no injury, but may not vouch for the accuser’s credibility. In Geissler v. State, 90 So. 3d 941 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012), a Child Protection Team nurse practitioner in New Port Richey found no physical evidence of abuse but told the Pasco County jury that her “medical assessment supported the allegation of sexual abuse.” The Second District reversed and ordered a new trial, holding that an opinion based entirely on the child’s reported history left the jury with the impression that the nurse believed the child.

That rule applies directly to SANE reports, which often end with an impression such as “findings consistent with history given.” Our attorneys move before trial to limit the nurse to the findings, and we object at trial when testimony crosses into vouching. Florida’s expert testimony standard in section 90.702, Florida Statutes also requires that any opinion rest on reliable principles applied to the facts, which a conclusion drawn from the accuser’s story alone does not.

How do our attorneys challenge a SANE report?

Our attorneys challenge a SANE report in six steps:

1. Get the whole file. Intake forms, body diagrams, every photograph, the kit inventory, and the examiner’s training and certification records.
2. Check timing. Compare the exam time to the alleged incident. Healing patterns can show an injury predates the accusation.
3. Review the photographs independently. A forensic pathologist or physician can interpret colposcope images differently from the nurse, as in our case study on the source of genital injury.
4. Trace the kit. Chain of custody, storage, and lab handling through FL Track-Kit and lab records.
5. Limit hearsay and vouching. File motions in limine under section 90.803(4), Hernandez, and Geissler.
6. Fit the evidence to the defense. When the defense is consent, DNA and minor injuries do not answer the real question, and the jury should hear that plainly.

Expert help is often decisive. Our guide to expert witnesses in criminal defense explains how we choose and use them, and our Tampa forensic science attorney page describes our forensic defense work. For the charges themselves, see what sexual battery is in Florida under section 794.011, Florida Statutes.

What should you do if you learn an accuser had a SANE exam?

Do not contact the accuser, do not talk to detectives, and call a defense attorney right away. A SANE exam often means a detective will soon ask for your side of the story, sometimes through a recorded “controlled call” from the accuser. Anything you say can be used to fill the gaps the medical evidence leaves. Our attorneys can step in before an arrest through pre-file advocacy and present the facts that support consent or innocence before the State decides what to file. Our Tampa sex crimes lawyer page explains how our firm defends these cases.

Frequently asked questions about SANE exam evidence in Florida

Can sexual battery charges be dropped if the SANE exam found no injuries?

They can be, but a lack of injury alone rarely ends a case, because Florida law does not require physical injury. A clean exam combined with inconsistent statements or evidence of consent can lead prosecutors to drop or reduce charges. The Brancato Law Firm presents that combination to the State early, often before charges are filed, through representation before charges are filed.

Is a SANE nurse an expert witness in Florida?

A SANE nurse can testify as a fact witness about the exam and, if qualified, as an expert about injury findings. The nurse is not a physician and may not vouch for the accuser’s credibility under Geissler. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm challenge the nurse’s qualifications for any opinion beyond documenting what she saw.

How long after an assault can a SANE exam find evidence?

Evidence collection is generally most useful within the first few days, and injuries heal quickly, sometimes within days. That makes the gap between the alleged incident and the exam a key fact. The Brancato Law Firm builds a timeline from texts, location data, and medical records to test whether a documented injury fits the accusation.

Can the defense hire its own expert to review a SANE exam?

Yes. The defense can retain a physician, forensic pathologist, or nurse examiner to review the photographs and records and testify. The Brancato Law Firm works with an expert network in forensic science to review colposcope images and challenge conclusions the evidence does not support.

What if the DNA in the rape kit matches me?

A DNA match proves contact, not lack of consent. When the defense is that the sex was consensual, the DNA result is often undisputed and the case turns on the other evidence. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm focus the jury on that real question rather than on the lab report.

Can the accuser’s statements to the SANE nurse be used if the accuser does not testify?

Often not. If the exam was arranged or directed by law enforcement and the statements were made to gather evidence, they can be testimonial under Hernandez v. State, 946 So. 2d 1270 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007), and admitting them without cross-examination violates the Confrontation Clause. The Brancato Law Firm files motions to exclude those statements when the accuser is unavailable.

Have our attorneys review the SANE report before you say anything

A SANE report reads like a conclusion, but every line of it can be tested. Call The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. at (813) 727-7159 at any hour, and our attorneys will review the exam file, the photographs, and the kit records, then tell you where the medical evidence is weakest. The firm was founded by Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Rocky Brancato, and we defend sex crime cases across Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties. Our firm has Spanish-speaking staff, and attorney Jean-Luc Adrien speaks Spanish, Haitian Creole, and French. Read our guide for Spanish-speaking and Haitian Creole-speaking clients.

For more about our defense strategies, visit our Sex Crimes page.

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A.
620 E. Twiggs Street, Suite 205, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 727-7159
Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. is a Tampa-based criminal defense practice. We are not affiliated with any other Brancato-named law firms.