Justices uphold drug order in St. Johns County probation case

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of a judge's requirement that a man on probation "not associate with anyone who is illegally using drugs."

In a St. Johns County case, justices unanimously rejected a challenge by Justin Demott, who contended that the instruction was too vague.

Demott pleaded no contest in 2014 to child-abuse charges and received a prison term and probation, the ruling said. Chief Justice Jorge Labarga wrote Thursday that the probation instruction to Demott was not unconstitutionally vague.

"However, we also emphasize that in order to prove a violation of the condition, the state must prove --- by a preponderance of the evidence --- the probationer's knowledge that the person with whom he associated was illegally using drugs at the time of the alleged violation," Labarga wrote.