Answer
This problem is addressed in ArcGIS 8.1 Service Pack 1 and later releases of ArcSDE. Click on the link in Related Information, below; click on ArcSDE and under version 8.1, select ArcGIS Service Pack 1. Follow download instructions.
Users may experience problems while using the QueryBuilder in the ArcIMS Java clients to query ArcSDE tables that have associated annotation features. The types of queries that could potentially crash ArcExplorer—Java Edition or Java Viewers are ones that query for decimal or floating point values. This is only a problem for ArcSDE tables that have associated annotation features.