Former Wisconsin Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, who was convicted by a federal jury of felony obstruction for interfering with a lawful Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation, is again asking a court to overturn her conviction.
The disgraced ex-judge is arguing that she was immune from prosecution for helping a wanted illegal alien evade arrest.
Dugan, 66, was found guilty in December of obstructing federal officers at the Milwaukee County Courthouse after prosecutors said she intentionally diverted ICE agents and facilitated the escape of Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal alien facing arrest.
Despite the conviction, Dugan continues to insist she had the right to act as she did.
In new post-conviction filings reviewed by Courthouse News, Dugan argues that her actions were protected by judicial immunity and constituted lawful judicial conduct.
She claims she is:
“the first and only judge in United States history to stand trial on an indictment for wholly official, good faith acts untainted by graft, corruption or self-dealing and that violated no individual constitutional right that the Reconstruction Amendments protect.”
Dugan previously made similar arguments before trial, asserting that ICE lacked authority to make arrests inside a county courthouse and that she was enforcing the law by ordering agents to leave.
She again maintains that all of her actions fell within her “judicial duties.”
Prosecutors, however, told the jury that Dugan deliberately intervened to obstruct a lawful arrest.
According to trial testimony, ICE officers arrived at the courthouse with a six-person arrest team to take Flores-Ruiz into custody.
Prosecutors said Dugan intentionally split the team up, directing agents away from her courtroom while Flores-Ruiz, who had lived illegally in the United States for more than a decade, was escorted out through a jury door leading to a private hallway.
Flores-Ruiz successfully avoided arrest at the court but was later apprehended as he fled.
Dugan resigned from her judicial post following the conviction but vowed to continue fighting the verdict.
She has now formally asked U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman to overturn the jury’s decision or grant her a new trial.
In her filing, Dugan also argues that the government failed to meet its burden of proof, particularly with respect to intent.
As Courthouse News reported:
“As is typical of this kind of motion, Dugan also asserted that the government failed to meet its burden and that the jury’s verdict should be overturned.
“Specifically, she took issue with whether the prosecution proved that she had the knowledge and intent required to obstruct.”
She again renewed her claim of judicial immunity.
If her appeals are unsuccessful, Dugan faces a potential sentence of up to five years in federal prison.
The trial featured damaging testimony from Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Kristela Cervera, who told the court she was stunned by the reaction of attorneys following Flores-Ruiz’s escape.
Cervera testified that lawyers congratulated her and Dugan for helping the illegal alien evade arrest.
She recalled attorneys pumping their fists and saying:
“You go, Judge,” and “Judge, you’re ‘goated’ now.”
Cervera said she was “pulled into” the incident by Dugan, who admitted she was attempting to help Flores-Ruiz avoid federal agents.
Cervera testified that she did not want to walk through the hallway in her judicial robe, but Dugan instructed her to do so anyway so ICE agents would “see them in their robes as a sign of authority.”
During pretrial proceedings, Dugan sought to suppress much of the evidence against her, including an audio recording made inside the courthouse on the day of the incident.
The effort failed, and the recording was admitted at trial.
The jury ultimately rejected Dugan’s claims and returned a guilty verdict.
Her post-conviction challenge is now pending before the court.
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