Live coverage of Judge Dugan’s trial has drawn to a close, for now.
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Judge Hannah Dugan is guilty of obstructing an arrest of an undocumented immigrant, but she is not guilty of concealing the same undocumented immigrant from his arresting federal agents.
If you find that verdict confusing, you’re not alone.
Dugan’s lead attorney Steven Biskupic signaled during a press conference held immediately after the trial that the seeming disconnect could figure in the judge’s appeal.
“How can you find guilty there and not go to the first?” Biskup asked reporters, noting that his client’s sentencing and post-trial briefings have not yet been scheduled.
“I would just say the case is a long way from over,” he added.
In a roughly half-hour conversation on Friday, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner and I hashed out how the jury’s notes could have explained the seemingly inconsistent verdict. In two separate notes, jurors asked whether Judge Dugan needed to know the identity of the subject of the warrant and the identity of the subject of the pending immigration proceeding in order to convict her.
The question about the warrant pertained to Count One, the misdemeanor, and the one about the pending proceeding used the statutory language of Count Two, a felony.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman provided varying standards for the different counts: The judge made clear that Dugan needed to know the identity of the subject of the warrant, but he also instructed the jury that Dugan only needed sufficient knowledge about the nature of the pending proceeding.
The distinction was crucial because prosecutors did not present evidence that federal agents showed Dugan their warrant or mentioned the name Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the man they were trying to arrest.
In legal jargon, a “repugnant verdict” is one that is internally inconsistent, but Dugan might have a challenge overturning her conviction on that basis.
“The Supreme Court has said, ‘Inconsistent verdicts are just fine,’” Glenn noted.
Watch the full interview at the top of this video for more context, and check out my prior coverage of closing arguments and the verdict on All Rise News.
