Summary:
It is my belief that Judge Longsworth engaged in communications with a defense witness in the middle of my divorce trial, and that these communications may have included conversation regarding details relevant to child custody.
I believe she failed to disclose this information clearly to “all parties” as is required by Canon 2 A(5) of the Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct.
Per her recorded disclosure, she acknowledged these communications were extra-judicial. However, at no time did she describe them as being ex-parte.
Details:
On 7/18/2025, Judge Longsworth sat on her bench and confusingly relayed that, over the weekend, she had received extra-judicial information about our case[1]. She indicated this information trickled down to her from comments made by a defense witness. She did not name this witness, but simply said Mr. Sudds had made remarks to a friend or acquaintance and “that information did make its way to me.”
Judge Longsworth said those comments pertained to “that person’s impression of this case and of me as a person and as a judge…” It sounds ex-parte to me. But she never said that.
At the time of her disclosure, I interpreted her words to mean that Mr. Sudds had aired griefs to a defense witness, who passed those comments on to another party, and that those comments were eventually passed on to Judge Longsworth. I had the impression that these comments were passively passed to her, and she did not actively engage in a two-way conversation regarding any aspect of our case.
So, it was to my shock when I heard via my lawyer that Judge Longsworth had privately stated in chambers that she knew the name of the defense witness, XXXXXXX, and that this communication occurred directly with him, via phone. This is a lot different than what I understood based on her words in court. Notably, she never identified the defense witness by name in her disclosure, which led me to assume she did not know his name.
This leads me to many questions, such as:
Was this an active conversation with someone directly linked to our case, or a passive passing on of gossipy comments heard via a multi-linked chain of people?
Did Judge Longsworth communicate directly with defense witness XXXXXXX regarding our case?
If so,
How did she know it was XXXXX?
How did she know he was a witness? Did he self-identify as such?
Why did she engage in this communication?
Why did she not make this clear? On the record?
How did Mr. XXXXX obtain access to her?
For how long did she speak with Mr. XXXXX ?
What were the topics they discussed?
What is her relationship to the defendant’s social circle? Do they have other friends or contacts in common?
What assurance does she have that it was truly Mr. XXXXX that she spoke with, and not the defendant himself?
She ended the discussion by instructing Mr. Sudds to make sure his comments no longer made their way to her. I find this odd, how could he assure this unless she believed him to have intentionally driven this information her way? Why did she not instead promise to uphold her oath and not participate in communications of this nature in the future?
If she truly spoke directly with a defense witness, I have some serious concerns with the ethics and legality of it, and the bias that her participation in it demonstrated. Not to mention the bias it would have colored her with.
I don’t believe that sloppily and confusingly “disclosing” this communication absolved her of responsibility for having engaged in it.
I request that you investigate this communication and her disclosure, determine whether she spoke with (or believed she was speaking with) XXXXX, and reassert my right to this information, and my right to a fair trial, free from biased actions such as these.
I ask that all possible sanctions and charges be brought against Judge Longsworth, especially as, per her disclosure, this took place over the weekend. Therefore, I believe this would mean the communication occurred outside the capacity of her job, and judicial immunity would not apply.
It is important to note that, immediately following this “disclosure,” she inappropriately jailed me and took my kids, banning any contact between my children and any of my family or friends[2].
[1] Exhibit 66: 7/18/25 Transcript, beginning at page 4, line 6.
[2] Exhibit 66: 7/18/25 transcripts, page 42, around line 17
