Judge in Declercq case says alleged texts 'never happened,' wonders if allegations meant to 'pressure' her
Judge cites her unblemished record and says: 'Heather Blundell is lying.'
Mio, Michigan — Speaking in a courtroom so silent that not even the whir of a heating system could be heard, Circuit Court Judge Casandra Morse-Bills denied a motion to recuse herself from the criminal case of Robert Allen “Bob” Declercq. The former wealth manager from Grosse Pointe Farms was convicted by a jury in May on two counts of sexually assaulting a 3-year-old child.
Declercq, 72, sat with his hands folded on a table while facing a camera as he watched the hearing this week by Zoom. His image appeared on a screen in the Oscoda County courtroom. Declercq, sentenced in August to serve 25-60 years, is currently held in the Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kincheloe, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula.
These kinds of hearings often last a few minutes. This was different.
The judge spoke slowly and clearly, outlining point-by-point her response to attacks on her character and credibility amid allegations of conflict of interest. She appeared to be reading prepared remarks written on approximately 20 pages, noting that she has had a legal career with zero blemishes on her record.
Appellate lawyer Michael Dezsi of Royal Oak, an adjunct professor of law at the University of Detroit Mercy, and his student intern Jackson Moore, listened while the judge spent nearly 90 minutes explaining in detail why the motion filed Dec. 8, 2025 to get her removed from the criminal case lacked merit.
Dezsi filed an emergency motion to recuse the court and for post-trial discovery regarding ex parte communication — alleged texts — between the judge and juror No. 43, Richard Hoffman, who was excused as an alternate juror prior to deliberations.
The defense submitted a motion on Dec. 8 that included a statement from court employee Heather Blundell alleging inappropriate communication between the judge and a man she said was known in the community as “Hoff.” Dezsi is seeking contents of the judge’s cell phone.
The judge described the claim of an alleged text exchange — and the conflict of interest narrative around it — as fictitious and malicious, possibly crafted by defense lawyers in a failed attempt at embarrassment or intimidation.
Defense fails to bring key witness to hearing
At the start of the hearing on Wednesday, the judge asked Dezsi why Blundell’s declaration — on which the motion and hearing were based — wasn’t submitted as a affidavit as required by state law. Dezsi replied that the signed declaration fulfilled the letter of the law, citing a federal statute.
Morse-Bills responded, “You admittedly state that it’s an extraordinary request to demand the contents of a sitting judge’s phone. Have you produced Ms. Blundell today to provide any testimony?”
Dezsi said no.
“If you had that witness to produce, she should be here,” said Morse-Bills, noting what she described as proper procedures for these motions.
“You’re demanding making this extraordinary request for the contents of my phone. Have you contacted the juror that you are also accusing of having improper conduct, to get a statement, affidavit, or any other information from that individual with regard to your accusations?”
Dezsi said no. He said he didn’t think it appropriate unless the court grants him subpoena power. He noted that the defense had a private investigator reach out to talk to the jurors after the trial and Hoffman declined.
“Have you made any effort since becoming aware of new evidence by way of Ms. Blundell’s declaration?” Morse-Bills said.
“I did not,” he said.
“You have not even inquired with him regarding contents of any messages?” Morse-Bills said.
Dezsi said no, and suggested the court adjourn so that he could try to contact Blundell.
The judge responded that the defense had ample time to prepare for the hearing and a lawyer doesn’t need to have discovery power or authority to ask somebody to appear in court. “That effort wasn’t even made.”
She observed that Hoffman was in court on his own, at that moment, sitting a few rows behind Dezsi and observing the hearing on his own accord.
Hoffman declined to comment to Shifting Gears after the hearing ended.
Court bias? Declercq allowed to race yachts
The judge asked Melissa Palepu, the assistant attorney general handling the Declercq case, if she had any comments about issues raised in the motion and she chose to challenge three: whether phone records should be produced, whether Blundell had credibility as an alleged whistleblower and whether the court was unfair to Declercq and his trial lawyer Shannon Smith of Bloomfield Hills.
Palepu said there is no legal reason to provide cell phone records. “All we have is an employee who admittedly had a vendetta against the court. She admitted when we went and interviewed her that she was disgruntled, she had thought about filing complaints before, she left immediately after this trial. She didn’t come forward” for months. Blundell lacks evidence and credibility, Palepu said
Palepu noted that defense team sent an investigator to contact every juror immediately after the trial, because at least one juror voiced concern about being approached. And nothing came of it regarding any wrongdoing or any issues involving the jury or the court.
Also, claims from Smith that the court was “so mean” to the defense don’t fit with the fact that hearings were often adjourned and set based on the defense attorney’s schedule — and Declercq was allowed out to go on international waters to do yacht races and allowed to be released from jail after conviction for a private dentist appointment.
“I don’t see how he was ever treated unfairly,” Palepu said. “That was something not in the brief and I wanted to put that into the record.”
Declercq, an accomplished sailor who has sailed the annual Port Huron to Mackinac race, was removed from the Hall of Fame at Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit after his criminal conviction. U.S. Sailing officials have reviewed safety protocols following publicity surrounding the case.
Palepu said in her written response to the defense motion, “Ms. Blundell is not reliable. Her statement is not sworn and she has a motive and bias to be untruthful. She is on leave from work, has a negative opinion of the court and its employees, contemplated filing a complaint prior to this trial even occurring, and is not corroborated by any other evidence or independent witnesses."
Judge debunks defendant’s claims
In laundry list fashion, Morse-Bills responded to multiple issues raised by Dezsi while peppering her comments with established precedents, various citations and legal definition of words used in the motion:
A judicial disqualification motion must be made within 14 days of the discovery of grounds for disqualification. The trial ended on May 2, 2025 and Smith filed a motion to recuse the judge on May 21, 2025, saying counsel received phone calls, emails and texts from spectators or people who spoke with spectators who watched the trial. Morse-Bills said she denied the motion on July 8, 2025 due to lack of any affidavit or verifiable claims showing judicial bias.
This emergency motion, based on the signed declaration by Blundell, may raise questions. While unsworn declarations may substitute for notarized affidavits in federal court, the Declercq case is in state court with different rules.
Defense alleges potential bias of the judge but failed to show proof of such claims. Morse-Bills said she had never seen or met the defendant, victim or witnesses. She had never had any of the attorneys in her court or met them or heard of them. “I am very much distanced from this case, even more so than many other cases that I do preside over.”
Trial lawyer Shannon Smith claimed the judge yelled at Smith in front of the jury and she moved for a mistrial “because the judge clearly hates me,” Morse-Bills said, reading from a trial transcript. Smith said the judge “yelled at” the defense lawyer. The judge denied the motion and corrected the record to note she had never yelled during the trial because she doesn’t yell in her courtroom. Smith said, “When I’m saying yelling, I’m not saying you’re yelling as in ‘your voice getting loud.’ And the transcript does not capture this. Your tone makes it very clear I’m getting scolded … I don’t mean yelling as in screaming or yelling loudly at me. That’s not what I mean. The court replied, that the definition of yelling is yelling — it is raising your voice. Miss Smith then replied, ‘Well, I yell at my children but I don’t raise my voice … I direct them.” The judge responded that she was, in fact, trying to direct the defense lawyer to stay within the rules and that’s standard operating procedure.
Smith complained a lot about personal treatment despite being offered time to compose herself. She argued that, according to the transcript, during the trial she was about to vomit in the courtroom … “she had to stand there and nearly dry heave and vomit.” But the judge said she routinely accommodated the defense, and the judge understood the issue was allergies. “Quite frankly, I showed a great amount of patience. The defense fails to show prejudice.”
Dezsi submitted a statement that said Blundell witnessed “rolling of the eyes” and a “snarky” and “nasty” tone and laughing at defense counsel — which the judge said is “unfounded, untrue and unsupported by the record.” Blundell wasn’t in the courtroom during the Declercq trial and stated she watched part of the trial on her computer, while courtroom cameras only focus on the person speaking. So if the defense lawyer is speaking, the cameras aren’t showing the others in the courtroom. What Blundell said she saw was not possible, the judge said.
As for meeting the standard of fair treatment in the courtroom, the judge pointed to legal precedent where a judge yelled “screw you, get out” to defense counsel and it was ruled a “fleeting breach of courtesy” instead of grounds for appeal. Morse-Bills said her focus was on evidentiary issues, not personal bias or anything comparable to screaming “screw you, get out.” The judge said the trial lawyer may not have liked the focus being on adherence to rules of evidence.
Private investigator unable to dig up problems
The judge mentioned that the defense team had a licensed private investigator working on the Declercq appeal and DJ Newman of Grand Slam Investigations contacted jurors after the trial and found nothing. “The only individual that you could find … to make a statement in support of this claim is an employee who I would describe based on the declaration she submitted, and statements contained in the interview provided by the attorney general’s office with their response to the motion, as a disgruntled employee who was not in the courtroom during trial, who stated in her declaration that she watched most of the trial from her desk, and then stated to the attorney general that she periodically and kind of listened or watched or listened to the Declercq trial, when she’s supposed to be working.”
The judge said Blundell has been upset — “unbeknownst to me” until reading the brief — since February of 2025, when she was reprimanded for violation of the model code of conduct and personnel policy of the court, and who has been off of work since July of 2025 and who has had no contact with the court since that time, and who has previously filed an unsubstantiated complaint against her supervisor (not the judge) … This is the only single individual that the defense could get to make any statement in support of the allegations and claims regarding my trial conduct.”
The assistant attorney general, in her opposition to the motion, had submitted a police report and a recorded interview with Blundell, conducted by Michigan State Police special agent Ashley McMath on Dec. 16, 2025.
During that interview, Blundell revealed that she had been angry after she “notified the court and used a sick day (PTO day) because she was snowed in and could not leave her house. When she returned, she received a written reprimand from the court administrator saying Blundell had violated policy. Blundell said she felt “bullied” by action she believed was “at the direction” of the judge. Blundell challenged the decision, which was reduced from a written command to a verbal command, according to the filing. In April 2024, Blundell developed carpal tunnel syndrome from handwriting documents at the court, “and she noticed a toxic work environment at the court.” Blundell said she considered filing a formal complaint with the state because she felt like she was being bullied.
Who is Richard Hoffman, juror No. 43?
When it comes to “ex parte communication,” Blundell alleged she was following the judge while walking towards an exit during a break in the trial and the judge stopped, laughed and looked at her cell phone to find a text from a man known throughout the community as “Hoff.” The judge said she had zero communication with Hoffman, who was excused from the jury prior to deliberations, or communication with any remaining juror during the trial. “Mr. Hoffman never sent any type of message or communication to me during trial. Never. Heather Blundell is lying. I have no other way to explain her accusations because it absolutely never happened. I never told her I received a message from Mr. Hoffman and I never received a message from Mr. Hoffman.”
The judge said she exchanged texts in the days prior to the trial about Hoffman selling his Jeep for $6,300 on Facebook Marketplace. After the trial concluded, the judge texted Hoffman that the jury reached a guilty verdict. Hoffman replied, “I heard” and said that if he had been part of deliberations, “you’d still be there” — suggesting that he may have been sympathetic to the defendant. Both parties said they’d like to hear impressions of the case later, but they never followed up. That exchange occurred after the trial. “In no way does that erode public trust.”
Defense claims the judge has a personal relationship with Hoffman. The judge said they are second cousins, with mothers who are cousins, and see each other infrequently. “I knew him as a small child and went years without contact. We are friendly but don't spend time together.” Hoffman worked a few years ago at Blue Collar Clothing, a store her husband owns. Hoffman now runs the only coffee shop in town. “It’s impossible to avoid contact. Unless I stop drinking coffee, I will run into jurors and potential jurors.”
Neither the judge nor Hoffman committed any wrongdoing or perceived wrongdoing because revealing second-cousin status isn’t required or expected. “Mr. Hoffman was never asked if he knew the judge and it’s not a necessary disclosure.” Jurors are asked if they know the defendant, lawyers and witnesses.
The judge said she would voluntarily provide screenshots of her few text exchanges with Hoffman, attaching them to the court record. Morse-Bills said she did nothing to erode public trust or display impropriety. “It is nonsense.”
Judge gives a crash course on small town life
Morse-Bills devoted a significant amount of time talking about the realities of being a judge in a small community such as Oscoda County with a population of 8,000.
“We all pretty much know everybody,” she said. “I know some jurors from prior court proceedings, from coaching basketball, from church, from being a Girl Scout leader, from participating in community events, football games, going to local restaurants, the grocery store. I’ve had jurors serve that were my teachers in elementary school, my teachers middle school and high school. I’ve had jurors that served where I previously represented their children or family members when I was an attorney. I have had jurors that I have sentenced their children or family members after becoming a judge. I’ve had jurors that are the parents of my children’s friends, who work at my bank, that teach or have taught my children, that I have attended church with, that I have played sports with or alumni games with, that is my dentist.”
At issues is being fair and impartial, Morse-Bills said.
“Lives overlap,” she said. “It’s absurd to state or even believe that it is improper or even unexpected that a judge in a rural northern Michigan community would not know the jurors and would not have contact information for jurors who appear in their court.”
Law enforcement fears for judge’s safety
The motion also cited a video posted on social media by Mark Heath at De Facto Media Group that spotlights the family members of Morse-Bills and raises questions about her integrity. She said she hasn’t and won't watch it.
“I do not engage with Mark Heath in any way, shape or form. Mark Heath is a convicted rapist with two convictions of criminal sexual conduct in the second degree and in the third degree out of Hawaii, who has had several felony cases since being released from prison. Those cases were in Oscoda and in Arenac County, including assaultive charges,” she said.
“I voluntarily disqualified from his cases after I was informed that law enforcement was concerned for my safety due to Mark Heath having been, what was described to me, as stalking. And that he had hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures and videos of me, my children and my family located on this devices and that he had made threatening comments about myself and my family,” Morse-Bills said.
Shifting Gears first wrote about De Facto Media and concerns raised by an internet predator prevention group earlier this month.
Did defense use reporter to try to pressure?
In the end, Morse-Bills said she questioned the defense strategy not to focus on the facts of the trial but instead malign a judge and an alternate juror — a military veteran and business owner — released from jury service through a random selection process in the courtroom.
Also, the judge asked how it was possible that The Detroit Free Press knew to telephone the court and inquire about Heather Blundell’s statement “filled with accusations” before the defense even filed a motion with the court showing the statement existed.
The Free Press story ran under the headline, “Judge draws scrutiny for texting juror in Grosse Pointe sailor’s trial” on Dec. 16, 2025. It was the first only story about the Declercq case that appeared in the news outlet, according to archive review. It also included a new interview with Blundell questioning the judge’s integrity. The story referred repeatedly to Blundell’s “affidavit” while she never filed an affidavit.
“I can only wonder what was the intent of forwarding these vicious accusations to The Detroit Free Press, before even having filed with the court, having been heard in court or having contacted the prior juror that you were also producing allegations against,” Morse-Bills said during the hearing. “What would be the purpose in sending this information to the media? It leaves me wondering if the intent was, in fact, to put public pressure on myself, the court, in hopes that I might disqualify myself for the sake of preventing any further public scrutiny, perhaps not. I don’t know.”
What’s next for Bob Declercq
After the hearing, Dezsi told Shifting Gears, “I’m going to discuss the issue with Mr. Declercq in light of the judge’s ruling and we’ll decide if and how we’re going to proceed.”
Dezsi said, “As an advocate for Mr. Declercq, I can’t really just accept one side’s position of what happened when there’s a factual dispute between what the judge claims and what Heather Blundell claims.”
He plans to appeal the decision, which sends the motion to Chief Judge Richard E. Vollbach Jr. of the 23rd Circuit Court — who oversees Oscoda, Alcona, Arenac and Iosco counties — to determine on next steps, court officials told Shifting Gears.
The defense may get a hearing with another judge who would decide if Morse-Bills remains with the Declercq case.
The defense motion for a new trial is on hold until the matter of the trial judge’s role is clear, Dezsi said. He told the court that requesting a judge provide access to her personal text messages is “extraordinary” but he feels it’s important to determine whether any communicaton would provide evidence that could help win a new trial.
Morse-Bills said the alleged text exchange is a red herring and desperate attempt to establish grounds for a new trial that meets the letter of the law. She plans to issue a written opinion in coming days.
Previous Declercq coverage:
Shifting Gears has been the only media outlet providing comprehensive coverage of the Bob Declercq case as part of its overall commitment to covering issues related to the sailing community. Read about his conviction here. The crime victim here. Child witnesses here. The sentencing here. Postponement of a second sex assault trial here. Claims of alleged text between judge, juror here.
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Great job again. Tresa Baldas has a clear relationship with Dezsi and the other lawyer for Bob. It's proven now more so than ever with this latest stunt they pulled.
Another example of “no holds barred” lawyering” that ignores the liberal underlying standard of fair inferences drawn from admissible evidence in favor of throwing s**t against the wall in the remote hope some might stick.