Circuit Judge Robert Belanger retires after nearly 19 years on the bench
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FORT PIERCE – As a former state prosecutor and longtime circuit judge, when Robert Belanger hung up his black robe for good this month, he left behind a “highly respected” legal career spanning nearly four decades.
“I've been blessed with a wonderful career and wonderful colleagues,” said Belanger, 65, of Palm City. “But I want to spend more time with family and travel and all the things you do when you're in retirement.”
A former U.S. Marine captain and judge advocate (JAG) who joined the Florida Bar in 1993, Belanger has practiced law for 38 years, including a decade as a state prosecutor and nearly 19 years as a circuit judge.
He signaled his retirement plans last year in a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis to announce he’d leave his judicial post two years before his elected term expires in 2025.
Belanger and his wife Gale will split their time living in Palm City and Broadview Heights, Ohio, where they have a home. He grew up in Ohio and attended Cleveland State University. He earned his law degree at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1986.
Belanger discovered the Treasure Coast, he said, from visiting his wife’s parents, who had a condo in Stuart.
“We would come down in the winter and we fell in love with Stuart and Palm City,” he said.
‘Star judge’
Charles “Tony” Schwab, the chief judge of the 19th Judicial Circuit, which covers Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin and Okeechobee counties, said DeSantis in January is expected to appoint a new judge to complete the six-year term Belanger won unopposed in 2018.
On Nov. 7, the Judicial Nominating Committee for the 19th Judicial Circuit recommended to DeSantis three lawyers to replace Belanger: Jeffrey Battista, a Vero Beach attorney with the Grall Law Group; Brennan Keeler, legal counsel to the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association; and Preethi Sekharan, a civil attorney with Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, in Stuart.
Circuit judges preside over probate and civil litigation, felony cases and family law, such as dependency, divorce and juvenile hearings.
Belanger mostly served in the felony division. Twice he imposed a death sentence against convicted killers: Dale Middleton in Okeechobee County, for the 2009 murder of Roberta ‘Bobbie’ Christensen, and during the death penalty resentencing of Andrew Gosciminski, who in 2002 fatally stabbed Joan Loughman inside her father's home in the South Beach area of Fort Pierce.
Gosciminski died in 2020 at age 67 awaiting a state execution.
In September, Belanger’s colleagues recognized him for launching the St. Lucie County Veterans Treatment Court in 2014. Since then, he presided over the cases of 157 veterans who entered the program, of which 111 successfully graduated, court officials noted.
Schwab, too, said Belanger will be missed “not just because he's a fixture here from a judge standpoint, but he's just a good friend.”
“The 19th circuit will be deficient one of the star judges. I'm sure we'll get somebody new in who will work hard to fill the shoes,” Schwab said. “But he's got some shoes - from an interpersonal and intellectual level - that'll be very difficult to fill.”
Legal ‘mastermind’
Before being appointed to the bench in January 2005 - two months after losing a circuit judge race - Belanger was best known for prosecuting Stuart millionaire Alan Mackerley, 78, who died in prison last year serving a life term for the 1996 murder of Frank Black, a New Jersey business rival who was lured to Florida on false promises of a lucrative deal.
“Mackerley was a really compelling, interesting story,” said Belanger, who with State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl, prosecuted the convicted killer during three trials.
After using his then-girlfriend Lisa Costello to trick Black into going to Mackerley’s waterfront home on Feb. 24, 1996, Mackerley shot Black in the head, then loaded his body onto a formula boat and dumped it in the Atlantic Ocean. Black’s body was never found.
“I think he (Belanger) would tell you, and I will tell you that it's the crown jewel in both of our careers as prosecutors,” Bakkedahl said of convicting Mackerley. “I’m not sure I'll ever have another case like that.”
Stuart attorney Robert Watson, who represented Mackerley during two trials, called Belanger a “terrific adversary” in court.
“Trial law is kind of like athletics. To operate at the highest level, you have to have noble opposition, and he was every bit of that,” Watson said. “Very prepared, very hard working.”
Enduring friendships
Bakkedahl and Belanger met in the mid-1990s working for former State Attorney Bruce Colton. The two teamed up to prosecute some of the Treasure Coast’s most notorious killers.
“He was the legal brains behind the operation, and I was the muscle,” Bakkedahl recalled. “He was the mastermind behind the legal strategies and legal arguments and … the trial work was where I felt most comfortable. So, it was the perfect team.”
They developed a lasting bond: Bakkedahl spoke at Belanger’s 2005 investiture ceremony and in 2021, Belanger administered to Bakkedahl the State Attorney’s oath of office after he was elected unopposed.
Belanger, in fact, said his closest friendships date to the Mackerley trials, including with now-deceased FBI Agent Jay Miller, and Michael Driscoll, a former Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent who was lead detective on the Frank Black murder investigation.
“We’ve probably spent the last 25 Marine Corps birthdays together,” said Driscoll, 69, of Palm City. “I’m known for all my goofy one-liners … and the good thing about Bob is he laughs at most of my jokes.”
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Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to appoint Robert Belanger's replacement
