R.M.O., a child v. State

We affirm the trial court’s order finding R.M.O. guilty as charged in the delinquency petition and withholding adjudication. Our review of the record reveals that any evidentiary errors committed by the lower court during the bench trial of R.M.O. were harmless.

Nonetheless, we write to remind all concerned of the special attention required of trial courts when making evidentiary rulings during non-jury trials.

We quote extensively from the Florida Supreme Court’s instructive decision in Petion v. State, 48 So.3d 726 (Fla. 2010):

Ordinarily, where a- trial judge, sitting, as here, as the…