Assumption: "A judge's decision not to hold a fact-finding hearing is something an appeal court will readily revisit if I disagree."

Court Reality

Whether to hold a fact-finding hearing is a case management decision, and appeal courts are especially reluctant to interfere with those. The bar is that the decision was plainly wrong, not merely arguably wrong, and a judge who has heard the case across many hearings is given even more latitude by an appeal court.