G.M. v. State

COWART, Judge.

This case involves the excited utterance (res gestae) exception to the rule of evidence excluding hearsay.

A petition for delinquency charged the defendant child with unlawfully handling, fondling, or making an assault in a lewd and lascivious manner on a five year old child. This charge is under section 800.-04(1), Florida Statutes. The charging document does not charge defendant under section 800.04(3), which prohibits a knowing, lewd and lascivious act in the presence of a child.

Three witnesses testified at trial. The victim and her brother testified on direct knowledge that…