Judge Hannah Dugan's trial begins: 'No longer business as usual'

Trump's DOJ told a jury that the case shows "judicial robes" do not place someone "above the law."

Judge Hannah Dugan enters federal court (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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As the trial of Judge Hannah Dugan kicked off on Monday, a federal prosecutor told a jury that arresting undocumented immigrants inside of a Milwaukee County Circuit Court building was “routine.”

That was before Judge Dugan’s clerk informed her that “five ICE guys” were waiting outside her courtroom on April 18.

“Then it was no longer business as usual,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Alexander told a jury. “Then it was no longer a routine day.”

“Anger, confusion and paranoia”

Judge Dugan’s prosecution has been seen as a dramatic escalation of Donald Trump’s attacks on the judiciary in the name of immigration enforcement. The prosecution and defense accept that Dugan had strong views about the immigration arrests inside Milwaukee County Circuit Court, which judges of that court complained about frequently.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Alexander told jurors that those views are immaterial to her trial.

“She’s on trial today because those strongly held views motivated her to cross the line,” Alexander said.

On this, the attorneys agree: On April 18, Judge Dugan was presiding over the case of Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant charged with domestic violence.

Five federal agents were waiting outside of her courtroom to arrest Flores-Ruiz based on an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant. Dugan referred the agents to the chief judge of the courthouse for legal advice and then escorted Flores-Ruiz and his public defender Mercedes de la Rosa through a “jury door” that led to a restricted hallway.

Inside that hallway, one door led down a stairwell to an alternative exit and a side door spilled into a public hallway roughly 10 feet from the main entrance.

Prosecutors claim that Dugan intended for Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to exit through the stairwell to evade arrest, but Dugan’s defense team says that she intended for them to leave where they actually exited: a public hallway, where the agents were waiting.

Dugan’s attorney Steven Biskupic said that prosecutors were also wrong about how allegedly “routine” immigration arrests inside courthouses were. The practice sparked “anger, confusion and paranoia” among judges inside the courthouse, Biskupic said.

“I’ll take the heat”

On the day of Flores-Ruiz’s arrest, Dugan wrote an email describing the consequences of immigration enforcement inside the courthouse.

“I have seen in my court more people not showing up for court,” Dugan wrote in an email on April 18. “I’ve had two immigration attorneys asking me just today about what protocols are in place.”

Dugan’s indictment says that she “falsely” told federal agents that an administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient to effectuate the arrest, but her attorney told the jury that she correctly followed the chief judge’s instructions on the law.

In an email shown to the jury, the Chief Judge from Milwaukee County Circuit Court advised other judges inside the courthouse that an “ICE warrant does not compel courthouse personnel to cooperate.”

During opening statements lasting roughly 90 minutes, the jury heard audio recordings of conversations between Dugan and her court reporter. The two of them could be heard in hushed tones about how Flores-Ruiz’s attorney would exit the courtroom.

“I’ll do it,” Dugan could be heard saying at one point. “I’ll take the heat.”

Prosecutors said it was unusual for judges to wear their robes outside of the courtroom, but surveillance footage showed that Dugan kept hers on when confronting the federal agents.

“The judicial robes that the defendant wore that day do not put her above the law,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander told the jury, turning a slogan used against Trump in his criminal cases on its head.

Splashing cold water on the prosecution’s oratory, Dugan’s defense said that the case was ultimately about “10 feet, 11 inches,” the distance between the main entrance of her courtroom and the side entrance.

Biskupic told the jurors that the distance is less than the length of the box where they were sitting.

It’s undisputed that agents spotted Flores-Ruiz after he exited through that side entrance, and one of them took an elevator with him. Flores-Ruiz tried to sprint away from agents outside the courthouse on that rainy day, but he was ultimately arrested, detained, and deported.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman said that trial is expected to last four days. The government plans to call up to 25 witnesses, starting with FBI agent Erin Lucker. The defense witness list is not yet known.

Dugan has not announced whether she will testify.

Witness testimony is ongoing. Look out for more coverage throughout the day, including live-streams on the All Rise News page.