Post-arrest comments by Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel can’t be used by the defense in the case against Judge Hannah Dugan, who is accused of obstructing an immigration arrest. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan is set to appear in court Wednesday for a final pre-trial hearing for her charges of helping an immigrant evade capture.
Dugan, 66, pleaded not guilty to federal charges, including one charge of obstructing an official proceeding and concealing a person from arrest and another of concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest. Her jury trial is scheduled for Dec. 15.
The charges stem from April 18, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to her courtroom and told staff about the planned arrest of Eduardo Flores-Ruiz.
Dugan asked the agents questions then sent them to the chief judge’s office. She went back to court and pulled Flores-Ruiz’s case ahead of the others, set it for a future date via Zoom, then directed the man and his lawyer out through a private jury door. Agents soon found him, followed him and arrested him.
Since her arrest, Dugan has been suspended with pay. The obstruction charge has a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and the concealing charge has a maximum penalty of one year.
FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi both posted on X after her arrest, saying “No one is above the law.”
Judge Lynn Adelman, presiding over the case, ruled on Tuesday that Dugan’s lawyers can show evidence of other ICE arrests in the Milwaukee courthouse, but they can’t describe how she was arrested or use comments Bondi and Patel made on the case.
The defense wanted to use comments made by Bondi and Patel to show bias in the prosecution. But the prosecution argued that they aren’t testifying, and Adelman agreed.
“Without more, I agree with the government [that the] defendant should not be permitted to inject national political figures into this trial,” Adelman wrote, adding any value would be outweighed by “the danger of unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, and wasting time.”
Dugan argued in a Nov. 14 filing that she was not obstructing arrest but following court policy issued by Chief Judge Carl Ashley. In an April 6 email from Ashley to Milwaukee County judges, “Ashley said that the arrests were having a ‘chilling effect’ and that ‘[c]ourts must remain safe havens’ from threats of immigration enforcement.'”
Interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Nov. 17 that prosecutors offered a plea deal to Dugan, but wouldn’t give details. Dugan’s lawyers have said she is innocent and they look forward to the facts coming out at trial, the Journal Sentinel said.
On May 30, 130 retired state and federal judges filed an amicus brief in support of dismissing charges against Dugan.
“The indictment in this matter raises important questions concerning judicial immunity, maintaining an impartial and independent judiciary, public trust in the judicial process, and anticommandeering of state officers and institutions under the Tenth Amendment,” the brief said.
Flores-Ruiz, a native Mexican, was deported on Nov. 15.
