No victim of sexual assault or strangulation shall be charged for the cost of collecting or storing a physical evidence recovery kit, an anonymous physical evidence recovery kit, a trace evidence collection kit, or an anonymous trace evidence collection kit.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 19.2-11.12 v2

  • Anonymous physical evidence recovery kit: means a physical evidence recovery kit that is collected from a victim of sexual assault through a forensic medical examination where the victim elects, at the time of the examination, not to report the sexual assault offense to a law-enforcement agency. See Virginia Code 19.2-11.5
  • Anonymous trace evidence collection kit: means a trace evidence collection kit that is collected from a victim of strangulation through a forensic medical examination where the victim elects, at the time of the examination, not to report the strangulation to a law-enforcement agency. See Virginia Code 19.2-11.5 v2
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Trace evidence collection kit: means any evidence collection kit supplied by the Department to health care providers for use in collecting evidence from victims of strangulation during forensic medical examinations or to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for use during death investigations to collect evidence from decedents who may be victims of strangulation. See Virginia Code 19.2-11.5 v2
  • Victim of sexual assault: means any person who undergoes a forensic medical examination for the collection of a physical evidence recovery kit connected to a sexual assault offense. See Virginia Code 19.2-11.5

2017, c. 535; 2023, c. 312.