A.E., A CHILD
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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A juvenile appealed a probation violation finding and delinquency adjudication. The court affirmed the delinquency adjudication for possession of a controlled substance but reversed the probation violation finding for failing to complete community service hours because it was based solely on hearsay evidence.
A finding of violation of probation may not be exclusively based on hearsay evidence. The court affirmed the delinquency adjudication but reversed the probation violation finding for failure to complete community service hours and remanded for reconsideration of sentencing.
[1] A finding of violation of probation may not be exclusively based on hearsay evidence.
[2] A probation officer's testimony regarding a probationer's file, without personal knowledge of the events documented therein, constitutes hearsay.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“a finding of violation of probation may not be exclusively based on hearsay evidence”
Establishes the core legal principle requiring non-hearsay evidence to support probation violation findings.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA.E. was on probation and required to complete 75 community service hours by October 2018. At the probation violation hearing, a probation officer who…
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PER CURIAM.
A.E., a juvenile, appeals a finding that she violated her probation by failing to complete community service hours and an adjudication of delinquency for the new offense of possession of eutylone, a controlled substance. We affirm the adjudication of delinquency without further discussion.
However, we reverse the finding of violation of probation for failure to complete community service hours because a finding of violation of probation may not be exclusively based on hearsay evidence. See J.B. v. State, 84 So. 3d 401, 402 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012). Per the terms of A.E.’s probation, she was supposed to complete 75 community service hours by October 2018. At the violation of probation hearing, A.E.’s probation officer testified that she began supervising A.E. in January 2020. She further testified that A.E. failed to comply with the conditions of her probation by failing to complete all 75 hours. The probation officer acknowledged, however, that she had no personal knowledge of any events prior to January 28, 2020, and that her testimony was based on her review
of A.E.’s file. The file was not moved into evidence, and no further evidence was presented concerning the violation. The trial court found that A.E. violated her probation by failing to complete the community service hours, among three other unchallenged grounds.
Because the violation of probation for failing to complete community service hours was based entirely on hearsay evidence, we reverse that finding and remand “for the trial court to reconsider whether it would have imposed the same sentence if faced with only the supported violation[s].” Id.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with instructions.
CIKLIN, GERBER and FORST, JJ., concur.