KEY WAYS THAT FORENSIC NURSE CONSULTANTS EVALUATE CRIMINAL CASES

An FNE’s comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of injury and the resulting insult to the human body significantly enhances their ability to evaluate criminal cases and provide insights into the nature and potential causes of injuries.

The key ways FNEs do this are:

• Accurate Injury Assessment: assessing and documenting the nature, extent, and patterns of injuries and distinguishing between different types of trauma, such as blunt force, sharp force, or ballistic injuries.

• Determining Cause of Injuries: inferring the potential causes of injuries, determining whether injuries are accidental, self-inflicted, or inflicted by another, and establishing the mechanism of injury.

• Correlating Injuries with Evidence: reconstructing the events leading to the injury and correlating physical injuries with other evidence, such as bloodstain patterns, weapon characteristics, and environmental factors.

• Identifying Signs of Abuse or Neglect: signs can be subtle and may be easily missed by those without specialized training.

• Collaborative Investigations: working with other professionals to guide investigations, support the development of case theories, and assist in formulating questions for witnesses and suspects.

• Evaluation of Consistency: determining if the victim’s and/or suspect’s accounts of events correlate with the physical evidence and/or medical findings.

By leveraging their knowledge of trauma, forensic nurse consultants play a vital role in uncovering the truth in criminal cases and providing a thorough and scientifically sound evaluation of injuries.

HOW FORENSIC NURSE CONSULTANTS EVALUATE CRIMINAL CASES!

One of the most important aspects of any criminal case is the EVIDENCE! An FNE uses the myriad of knowledge, skills, and abilities they have developed to assist in criminal cases. One way they do this is to IDENTIFY GAPS IN COLLECTION AND MISHANDLING OF EVIDENCE.

This is CRUCIAL in criminal cases because evidentiary issues can:

• invalidate the evidence

• compromise the admissibility of evidence

• compromise integrity & credibility of evidence in court

• cause inconsistencies

• create confusion or ambiguity about the origin, context, or significance of evidence with the jury

• can WIN or LOSE a case!

Common gaps identiofied by Forensic Nurse Consultants include:

• Chain of Custody Issues

  • Ex. lack of proper documentation and/or tracking of evidence from crime scene to laboratory

• Incomplete Documentation

  • Ex. missing or inadequate documentation of injuries, observations, or collection procedures

• Contamination or Tampering

  • Ex. improper handling techniques or contamination during collection, storage, or transportation

• Failure to Use Standardized Protocols

  • Ex. deviations from established protocols for evidence collection, preservation, and documentation

• Insufficient Training

  • Ex. inadequate training of personnel involved in evidence collection and handling can result in errors or omissions

• Inadequate Preservation

  • Ex. improper storage conditions or delays in submitting evidence to the laboratory

• Documentation Errors

  • Ex. errors in labeling, dating, or describing evidence can create confusion or ambiguity

How can a Forensic Nurse Examiner (FNE) assist with Criminal cases?

Some FNEs choose the route of legal nurse consulting on criminal and/or civil cases. Because of their specialized skills and knowledge, they are equipped to understand and interpret medical evidence within the context of the law.
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Types of cases that benefit from the consultation services of an FNE include:
🔴 Death investigation/homicide
🔴 Physical assault
🔴 Sexual assault
🔴 Human trafficking
🔴 Domestic/interpersonal violence
🔴 Assault
🔴 Strangulation
🔴 Child abuse/neglect/sexual assault
🔴 Elder abuse/neglect
🔴 Malpractice
🔴 Wrongful Death
🔴 Insurance Fraud
🔴 DUI/MVAs

How do we do this??
FNEs who consult or provide expert services do so by
🔷 leveraging their knowledge and skills in forensics, evidence collection and handling, mechanism of trauma, human anatomy and physiology, nursing standards of care and the legal system
🔷 providing expert insights into medical evidence
🔷 helping attorneys, judges and juries understand the significance of injuries, trauma, and other relative health-related aspects
🔷 collaborating with legal teams to ensure proper evidence collection, maintain chain of custody, and adhere to legal protocols.

Their expertise bridges the gap between healthcare and the legal system,
contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of criminal cases.

What is a Forensic Nurse Examiner? (i.e. not "just" a SANE)

Forensic Nurse Examiners (FNEs) are often believed to function solely as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners or “SANE” nurse.  While that is obviously important work, FNEs are so much more than that!  

What is a FNE?  Forensic nurses are specially trained RNs or Advanced Practice RNs who work not only with victims of crime but often with the perpetrators as well.  They connect healthcare and the legal system and provide trauma-informed care to patients in a variety of settings such as hospitals, medical examiner/coroner’s office, correctional facilities, psychiatric facilities, private investigation firms, child advocacy centers, rape crisis centers, and more.

The patients they encounter are often involved in criminal acts such as:

• Sexual assault

• Physical assault

• Domestic/interpersonal violence

• Child abuse

• Strangulation

• Shootings/Stabbings

• Homicide  

• DUI/Drug related incidents

FNEs excel at: 

• the collection, handling and management of evidence in a manner that maintains its integrity for court; 

• performing detailed physical examination to identify injuries and other findings; 

• completing comprehensive documentation of the incident and relevant medical history, findings, and evidence collection; 

• providing medical care to crime victims and suspects; and 

• testifying to their processes, findings and expert opinions of the case.  

FNEs are not only essential members of healthcare teams, they are also indispensable members of legal teams.