When a script ends, all buffered output is flushed (this is not a bug: http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=42334&thanks=4). What happens when the script throws an error (and thus ends) in the middle of an output buffer? The script spits out everything in the buffer before printing the error!
Here is the simplest solution I have been able to find. Put it at the beginning of the error handling function to clear all buffered data and print only the error:
$handlers = ob_list_handlers();
while ( ! empty($handlers) ) {
ob_end_clean();
$handlers = ob_list_handlers();
}