MILWAUKEE (CN) - A Wisconsin jury split the baby on Thursday, finding Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan guilty of the felony charge of obstructing ICE but not guilty of a lesser charge, concealing an individual set for deportation.

"[We are] obviously disappointed. The mixed verdict is the big thing, and our perspective is that the same elements that are in count one are also in count two, so, how can you find guilty there and not guilty on the first?" said Steven Biskupic, Dugan's attorney, at a press conference after the verdict was delivered.

Newly appointed U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel told press the case was tried "masterfully" and cautioned against making Dugan's prosecution about a "larger political battle."

"The defendant is certainly not evil, nor is she a martyr for some greater cause ... We all must peacefully accept this verdict," Schimel said.

The jury began deliberating the case at around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon and concluded at 8:30 p.m. It was tasked with deciding whether the federal government proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Dugan, 66, intentionally and corruptly took physical action on April 18 to obstruct ICE officers and conceal Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, for whom they had a warrant to arrest.

At around 3:50 p.m., the jury sent a note requesting the internal ICE policies that lay out the steps required after a warrant has been issued and who must be notified before a courthouse arrest.

The note suggested that the jury was considering how the six person arrest team - comprised of agents and officers from ICE, FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration - conducted themselves in the courthouse on April 18.

Two other notes from the jury came around 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and asked whether the concealment and obstruction charges require Dugan to know who the warrant was for and who the immigration proceeding was for, respectively. After some consideration in chambers, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, a Bill Clinton appointee, decided they did, in a victory for Dugan.

Attorney Nicole Masnica made the defense's arguments on this granular issue, and comments from the jury's foreman suggest that she might have influenced their decision in a big way. 

He asked not to be identified by name, but said that the jury was not confused by the answers to their notes and that they offered clarity: "The jury followed [judge] Adelman's instructions faithfully."

The trial began on Monday with opening arguments from both sides and the first batch of government witnesses. In all, the government called 19 witnesses, despite indicating during pre-trial conferences that it expected to call 25-30.

The government called each member of the arrest team except for one:  FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Baker, Deportation Officer Joseph Vasconcellos, DEA Special Agent Bian Ayers, FBI Special Agent Phillip Jackling and Customs and Border Protection Supervisor Joseph Zuraw.

Each gave mostly identical accounts of their movements on April 18, including checking in with law enforcement on-site and alerting the bailiff in Dugan's courtroom that they would be making an arrest in the public hallway.

Surveillance video from the public hallway caught Flores-Ruiz and his attorney Mercedes De La Rosa arriving on Good Friday for a pre-trial conference before Dugan in an unrelated proceeding.

The officers wore hoodies and baseball caps, and intended to wait in the hall for Flores-Ruiz to finish his hearing before making the arrest, according to testimony.

Biskupic highlighted the split verdict in his remarks to press - which did not include Dugan herself - and said that the case was far from over.

He requested a post-trial briefing, which would include a summary of the evidence and arguments from both sides, and a request for extraordinary relief such as a new trial or a challenge to the verdict.

It would be unusual for Adelman to set aside the verdict, but the split decision and the defense's pending renewed motion to dismiss and motion for acquittal mean that there is still a lot to come before Dugan is sentenced. The judge on Thursday to set a sentencing date. Dugan faces up to five years in jail for a felony obstruction conviction.

Over three days, the federal government made the argument that it was a routine immigration enforcement operation until Dugan got involved. Her clerk, Alan Freed Jr., first notified her of ICE's presence in the hall. From there, she used the private hallway at the center of this case to quickly recruit Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Kristela Cervera to "check on a warrant."

The judges, still in their black judicial robes, identified five members of the arrest team and directed them to Chief Judge Carl Ashley's office to make a copy of the administrative warrant and discuss their courthouse operations.

The officers testified that Dugan was irate, an accusation she could have refuted had she decided to testify. In lieu of speaking on behalf of herself, the defense called former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett as a character witness.

Barrett has known Dugan for over 50 years, he said, since she was 11 or 12 years old. He called her honest.

The defense focused on sowing distrust in the government's evidence, suggesting in closing arguments that those at the top of the federal government are influencing the case to make an example of Dugan.

It also poked holes in the government's theory that Dugan intended to send Flores-Ruiz and his attorney down a staircase leading to the fifth floor within the private hallway from which they emerged.

"The best evidence of what [Dugan] intended is De La Rosa and Flores-Ruiz exiting into the public hallway, where there was an immigration agent on the left and an immigration agent on the right," said Dugan attorney and former U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic on the first day of trial.

Dugan's prosecution has drawn national attention, characterized by the left as an aggressive escalation in President Donald Trump's pursuit to strike fear in and control the judicial branch.

Her own attorneys have told reporters that the case amounted to political persecution. Protestors gathered outside of Milwaukee's downtown federal courthouse - home of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin - on day one of trial but have not returned.

Source: Courthouse News Service