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Mohajer v. Commonwealth9/17/2002
I was scared to death." The expert who examined Ward testified that she observed, with her naked eye, a large abrasion on the inside portion of Ward's labia minora that was consistent with non- consensual object penetration of her vagina.
Mohajer stopped and walked to the head of the table again, next to Ward's shoulder. He grabbed her head and turned it, and Ward saw that his pants were unbuttoned and unzipped. Mohajer then pulled out his penis. Ward "tried to turn head and tried to fight it off," but testified, "I don't know, there was something in me that I couldn't do it." Mohajer again turned Ward's head, and proceeded to hit her in the face with his penis until he "shoved it into mouth." After he climaxed, Mohajer walked to the other side of the table to wipe his hands. Ward turned to her side and curled up into a ball.
After approximately five minutes had passed, one of the employees walked into the room and told Ward that "time was up." Mohajer left the room. Ward and Whitlow then left and went to their respective homes. Later that evening, Ward told her mother about what had occurred, and her mother called the police.
Detective James C. Hepler, of the Fairfax County Police Department, came to Ward's home shortly thereafter. After he spoke with her, he took her to Fairfax Hospital where she underwent a physical examination, performed by Suzanne Brown, a registered nurse, and coordinator of the hospital's SANE program. In the course of the examination, Brown observed an abrasion to the inside portion of Ward's labia minora.
On July 27, 1999, Detective Hepler went to the spa and interviewed Mohajer. Mohajer denied any inappropriate contact with Ward. Mohajer ultimately provided a DNA sample to the police. The sample tested as a positive match to a DNA sample taken from Ward. Mohajer was subsequently indicted for forcible sodomy and animate object penetration.
Prior to trial, Mohajer filed a motion in limine seeking to bar Suzanne Brown, a registered nurse and coordinator of Fairfax Hospital's SANE program, from offering expert testimony "as to causation of the alleged abrasion" to Ward's vaginal area. Mohajer renewed his motion prior to Brown's testimony, arguing that Brown could not testify as to whether Ward sustained digital penetration and that only a medical doctor could testify as to the causation of Ward's injury. The trial court agreed that Brown could not testify as to digital penetration, but denied the motion to the extent it sought to limit such testimony to medical doctors, stating:
I don't think "medical professionals" are limited to doctors in any case other than a medical malpractice case, where the Statute says they're limited to doctors. Other than that, an expert is an expert. It can be a doctor, it can be someone else . . . .
But if she is qualified, she is permitted to testify as to whether it is inconsistent with consensual sexual relations, and that would be permissible under the case law in Virginia.
Following a recitation of her qualifications, the trial court accepted Brown as an expert qualified to render an opinion in the area of "medical evidence gathering in sexual assault cases."
Brown testified that in cases where she examined a patient alleging sexual assault, she routinely examined the vagina for abrasions, transections, tears and/or redness or discharge in the area. She stated that such injuries were significant in cases involving allegations of non-consensual sexual contact because "[in circumstances] where there are injuries present, it is because of the lack of human sexual response . . . ." She explained that " n women who are engaging in consensua
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