"The hymen does not need to be broken in original contact."

The second defense witness in the Chad Smith case was Ms. Nicole Yadon. She traveled to Humboldt from Murrieta, California. She was certified as an expert witness on a SART exam.

Ms. Yadon does expert consulting. She has a Master's degree in Science and Nursing, she is a nurse practioner, a sexual assault forensic examiner and a public health nurse.

Ms. Yadon explained what a SART exam is and said there are two types of SART exams: acute and chronic.

In an acute exam, there is visual and evidence collection and the examiner looks for the presence or absence of physical injury.

A chronic exam is done  "typically in children than adultswhen it is either past the point of acute injury or when DNA cannot be collected. The examiner looks for scarring or old injury.

Ms. Yadon has conducted over 500 exams; 15 to 20 percent were adolescent children.

Smith's attorney asked about a chronic exam and how an adolescent female's body would change if an adolescent has sexual intercourse.

"It depends if the female has had menses. Estrogen helps with lubrication and flexibility. It is less common to find injury if menses has started."

"Lot of people think the hymen is a barricade that has to be broken through. It is soft tissue. It is very sensitive when if estrogen is not present."

"Repeated female assault pattern leaves a notch in the tissue. The hymen is not present. There is a different appearance. The hymen does not need to be broken in original contact."

The typical age a female starts menses is "anywhere from 10 to 16." Whether she os an early or late bloomer follows the pattern of her mother.

Ms. Yadon said "depending on position and lubrication" there could be injury. The injury could or could not be seen years later.

Even in a case when sex started at 11 years and the victim is examined at 14 years, Ms. Yadon's opinion is "if injury or scarring occurred, it can likely be seen in an exam."

"Typically, when children are groomed  the perpetrator starts with touching first, so it can prepare the vaginal area for full penetration."

"Besides hymen, injury and scarring can occur to labia and the area below the vaginal opening. There can be injury on the inner thighs, depending on the situation."

Ms. Yadon talked about STD testing, what STDS can be tested in children; some STDS like HIV and herpes take longer to develop symptoms.

Ms. Yadon told Deputy District Attorney Stacey Eads that programs may vary. In "our program"  age 12 is considered an adult.

If the child is younger than 12, the examiner gets history from law enforcementnor the guardian.

Ms. Yadon talked about one case where the perpetrator was the biological father and there was full penile penetration of the child at age 10/11; the disclosure was when the child was  14 years old. There was a lot of scarring.

For this case, Ms. Yadon reviewed police reports, the restraining order violations, text messages, the forensic interviews and emails.

"If there is delayed disclosure, especially if something has occurred many times, a chronic exam should be done. It certainly is an investigator's discretion. We can only do an exam on law enforcement authorization."

No SART exam was done on Jane Doe #1. It was Det. Amber Cosetti's decision not to do the SART exam.

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