A jury found a Wisconsin judge accused of helping a Mexican immigrant dodge federal authorities guilty of obstruction Thursday, marking a victory for President Trump as he continues his sweeping immigration crackdown across the country. Federal prosecutors charged Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan with obstruction, a felony, and concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor, in April. The jury acquitted her on the concealment count, but she still faces up to five years in prison on the obstruction count, the AP reports. No sentencing date had been set as of late Thursday evening.
The jury returned the verdicts after deliberating for six hours. The case inflamed tensions over Trump's immigration crackdown, with his administration branding Dugan an activist judge and Democrats countering that the administration was trying to make an example of Dugan to blunt judicial opposition to the operation. Dugan and her attorneys left the courtroom and ducked into a side conference room without speaking to reporters. Steve Biskupic, her lead attorney, later told reporters that he was disappointed with the ruling and didn't understand how the jury could have reached a split verdict since the elements of both charges were virtually the same. "This case is a long way from over," he said.
- US Attorney Brad Schimel denied the case was political and urged people to accept the verdict peacefully. He said courthouse arrests are safer because people are screened for weapons and it isn't unfair for law enforcement to arrest wanted people in courthouses. "Some have sought to make this about a larger political battle," Schimel said. "While this case is serious for all involved, it is ultimately about a single day, a single bad day, in a public courthouse. The defendant is certainly not evil. Nor is she a martyr for some greater cause."
- According to a court filings that include an FBI affidavit and a federal grand jury indictment, immigration authorities traveled to the Milwaukee County courthouse on April 18 after learning 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.
- Dugan learned that agents were in the corridor outside her courtroom waiting for Flores-Ruiz. She left the courtroom to confront them, falsely telling them their administrative warrant for Flores-Ruiz wasn't sufficient grounds to arrest him and directing them to go to the chief judge's office.
- While the agents were gone, she addressed Flores-Ruiz's case off the record, told his attorney that he could attend his next hearing via Zoom and led Flores-Ruiz and the attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. The US Department of Homeland Security announced in November he had been deported.
- Prosecutors worked during Dugan's trial to show that she directed agents to the chief judge's office to create an opening for Flores-Ruiz to escape. "Common sense tells you that the defendant knew what she was doing was wrong, and she did it anyway," prosecutor Kelly Brown Watzka said during closing arguments, per the New York Times.
- Her attorneys countered that she was trying to follow courthouse protocols that called for court employees to report any immigration agents to their supervisors and she didn't intentionally try to obstruct the arrest team. Lawyers said she was trying to maintain authority in her courtroom while dealing with vague new guidelines on dealing with ICE agents. "She never acted corruptly in doing her job as a judge in the middle of a stressful, new, and confusing situation," said defense lawyer Jason Luczak.
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