Petion v. State

I would reject the broadly framed presumption that a trial court does not consider inadmissible evidence because it is a presumption fraught with the potential to mislead. In Petion v. State, 4 So.3d 83 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009), we see that potential realized in the holding that “[w]hen a trial judge, sitting as the trier of fact, erroneously admits evidence, the judge is presumed to have disregarded that evidence.” Id. at 87. In so holding, the appellate court imputed to the trial judge a legal understanding concerning the disputed evidence which the trial judge’s ruling of admissibility belies.

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