The First District Court of Appeal has held that section 948.30(2)(a), Florida Statutes, which bars the results of a sex offender probationer’s mandatory polygraph from being used as evidence in court to prove a violation, does not bar admissions the probationer makes when a probation officer or treatment provider questions him about those results.
Antonio Velazquez was on sex offender probation in Alachua County. After a November 2024 polygraph, his probation officer, concerned by some of his answers, had him answer questions in writing, and his written answers admitted the first seven violations alleged in the State’s affidavit. His treatment provider likewise questioned him after reviewing the results and testified that he admitted violations, and confirmed he had not completed his sex offender treatment program. The trial court admitted the evidence over objection and extended his probation 18 months.
The First District affirmed. The statute reaches only the “results of the polygraph examination” being “used as evidence,” and it “places no evidentiary restriction upon a party’s admissions made separately from the actual polygraph results.” The prohibition also applies only to use “in court,” and it “does not prohibit a probation officer or treatment provider from using the polygraph results in an investigation.” Admissions made in response to those investigations, the court concluded, “are not made inadmissible by section 948.30(2)(a).”
The court added an alternative ground: even under the defense’s broader reading of the statute, affirmance was warranted because Velazquez had not completed his treatment program, and it was “clear from the record” the trial court would have imposed the same extension for that violation alone.
Download the full opinion (PDF)
Citation: Velazquez v. State, No. 1D2025-0550 (Fla. 1st DCA Oct. 7, 2026).
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