MILWAUKEE (CN) - Despite her post-trial efforts for acquittal, former Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan's federal immigration enforcement obstruction conviction will stand, a judge ruled on Monday.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, a Bill Clinton appointee, said the evidence presented at Dugan's December trial was enough to find she obstructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers attempting to make an arrest outside her courtroom in April 2025.

Following a weeklong trial just before Christmas last year, a jury convicted Dugan of felony obstruction and acquitted her of the lesser charge of concealing an individual facing deportation.

Dugan filed a post-trial motion in January asking Adelman to overturn her conviction or order a new trial altogether, arguing against the validity of the administrative warrant for a defendant set to appear in her courtroom, the jury instructions, her own intent and the court's interpretation of the obstruction statute.

Dugan's primary argument on appeal of her jury conviction was that she was acting within her authority as a judge to control her courtroom. She made the same argument in pre-trial motions, which Adelman also denied.

"As I noted in denying the motion to dismiss, there was no basis for granting immunity simply because the indictment described conduct that could be considered 'part of a judge's job,'" Adelman wrote in a 39-page decision.  

Dugan pressed the issue by suggesting that her conviction creates a dangerous precedent for felony charges against anyone who poses a mere inconvenience to ICE officers.

"Defendant takes issue with the concept that a corrupt motive can make lawful acts unlawful ... it would be improper to hold [the law] cannot be applied to the conduct at issue here just because difficult line drawing issue may arise in other cases," Adelman wrote.

Dugan's jury trial established an undisputed timeline of April 18, 2025, when she learned immigration officers were in the hallway outside her courtroom, waiting to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was scheduled to appear before her in an unrelated case.

Dugan recruited Judge Kristela Cervera to join her in confronting the officers, directing her to escort the entire ICE team to Chief Judge Carl Ashley's office to present the administrative warrant before returning to her own courtroom.

Courtroom audio recording caught the rest. Dugan called Flores-Ruiz's case, quickly rescheduled it and ushered him and his lawyer through the jury door which led to a private hallway.

The pair passed a door leading to a private staircase and exited into the public hallway where the officers were waiting for them. Dugan disputes that she intended the pair to exit through a staircase in the hallway, which would have concealed them from the waiting officers.

Based on these facts, Dugan argued in her motion that she couldn't have obstructed the proceeding against Flores-Ruiz because she never saw the warrant or learned his name any other way.

The jury asked the court during deliberations whether the law requires Dugan to have known his name, and Adelman answered in the negative. Dugan claimed this was an error, and suggested that the answer betrayed the indictment, which named Flores-Ruiz.  

"By way of analogy, in felony possession prosecutions the government typically identifies the firearm by make, model and serial number," Adelman wrote. "But no one would argue the government is therefore required to prove the defendant knew the gun's serial number."

Dugan also attempted to argue that Flores-Ruiz was protected against civil arrest while in the courthouse to appear for a hearing, inferring again that she was acting within her authority as a judge to enforce his rights on behalf of the judicial branch.

However, Adelman determined she failed to bring any evidence that it was within her authority to assert his privilege in this context. Adelman wrote Dugan cannot now avoid criminal liability for obstructing his arrest by suggesting that she was acting on behalf of the court itself.

Dugan received training materials by a colleague indicating that ICE can conduct enforcement in public areas in the courthouse and the chief judge testified at trial that he was drafting a policy on this matter but it had not yet been completed.

The defense's case was undercut by statements she made after the incident with ICE. The courtroom audio recording caught her telling her clerk, "I'll do it. I'll take the heat." She also told Cervera she was "in the doghouse" with the chief judge because she "tried to help that guy."

Dugan resigned in January with a public letter to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers after nearly 10 years on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

"As you know, I am the subject of unprecedented federal legal proceedings, which are far from concluded ... I am pursuing this fight for myself and for our independent judiciary," Dugan wrote. "However, the Wisconsin citizens that I cherish deserve to start the year with a judge on the bench in Milwaukee County Branch 31 rather than have the fate of that court rest in a partisan fight in the state Legislature."

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August released a statement one day after Dugan's conviction all but ordering her to step down, threatening impeachment if she didn't act.

Dugan's own attorneys told reporters before, during and after trial that the case amounted to political persecution. Neither party could immediately be reached for comment.

Source: Courthouse News Service