Judge Dugan convicted of felony, cleared on misdemeanor

The jury deliberated for roughly six hours before reaching their verdict.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan has been found guilty of a felony and cleared of a misdemeanor following a four-day trial on accusations that she helped an undocumented immigrant in her courtroom evade arrest.

Dugan’s attorney Steven Biskupic called the mixed verdict a “big thing with defense perspective” on appeal, noting that the same elements appear on both counts.

“How can you find guilty there and not go to the first?” he asked. “But that’s why we asked for the post trial briefing. The judge hasn’t set a sentencing date. So obviously he’s going to take this seriously as well, and I would just say the case is a long way from over.”

On April 18, six federal agents showed up in the hallway outside the judge’s courtroom to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who faced misdemeanor domestic violence charges in Dugan’s court. Flores-Ruiz was deported to Mexico in November.

Once informed about Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s presence, Dugan walked into the hallway with fellow Judge Kristela Cervera to confront the agents and referred them to Chief Judge Carl Ashley after they said that they had an administrative warrant, not a judge-signed one. Two federal agents stayed behind in the hallway, and Dugan called Flores-Ruiz’s case.

After an off-the-record conference, Dugan sent the defendant and his attorney through the jury door into a restricted hallway with two exits: a private stairwell and a public hallway, where agents were waiting.

Flores-Ruiz and his attorney took the latter option and walked by two federal agents, but prosecutors claimed that the plan was to send him down the stairs.

The jury’s first question during deliberations sought exhibits concerning Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s notification requirements before and after issuing a warrant.

Shortly after, the jury asked a second question: “We desire clarity as to whether or not Judge Dugan needed to know the identity of [the subject of] the arrest warrant — for example, his specific name."

Dugan’s attorney Nicole Masnica argued that the jury should be instructed that her client needed to know the identity of the subject for a conviction, noting that the indictment specifically alleged that she did.

"There was no warrant issued for anyone else," Masnica said.

Over the prosecution’s objection, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman largely agreed, drafting an instruction incorporating the crux of the defense’s position. The final instruction read that the “defendant needed to know the identity of the subject of the warrant."

Dugan stood up and smiled broadly after hearing Adelman’s ruling, but that question related only to the first misdemeanor count.

The jury later sent a similar query about whether Dugan needed to know the identity of the subject of a “pending proceeding,” the statutory language of the felony obstruction charge. That instruction left far more uncertainty over whether Dugan needed to know the defendant’s identity to convict her of the crime charged.

The verdict came in at 8:26 p.m. Central Time, after six hours of deliberations.

Read coverage of closing arguments here on All Rise News.