State of Florida v. Kyle R. Queior

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida held that a probation officer’s testimony about the result of a field drug test personally administered by the officer is competent, nonhearsay evidence in a violation-of-probation proceeding. The court concluded that this testimony, together with hearsay evidence including a confirmatory laboratory report, sufficiently established that Kyle R. Queior violated his probation. The court quashed the Second District Court of Appeal’s contrary decision and disapproved portions of several conflicting district court decisions.

Holdings

1. Testimony by a probation officer about the results of a field drug test that the officer personally administered and observed is personal-observation testimony and is competent, nonhearsay evidence.
2. A probation officer is not required to be qualified as an expert or possess scientific expertise concerning the workings or reliability of a field drug test in order to testify about the results of a test personally administered by the officer.
3. The field-test testimony, combined with the hearsay evidence including the confirmatory laboratory report, was sufficient to establish that Queior violated probation by using illegal drugs.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a probation officer's testimony about the result of a field drug test personally administered by the officer is competent, nonhearsay evidence in a violation-of-probation proceeding.
2. Whether that testimony, together with hearsay evidence including a confirmatory laboratory report, is sufficient to establish a probation violation under Florida's relaxed evidentiary standards.
3. Whether a probation officer must possess scientific expertise or be qualified as an expert concerning the operation or reliability of a personally administered field drug test.

Disposition

quashed