Reporter John Diedrich discusses the Dugan verdict with TMJ4
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was found guilty of a felony count of obstructing federal agents seeking to make an immigration arrest outside her courtroom.
WTMJ-TV
- A federal judge denied former Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan’s motion to overturn her guilty verdict.
- Dugan was found guilty of a felony for obstructing federal immigration agents but not guilty of concealing an undocumented immigrant.
- The judge also rejected Dugan’s claim that she has judicial immunity from criminal prosecution for her actions.
A federal judge has denied a motion by former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan to overturn a jury’s guilty verdict against her.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman on April 6 issued a 39-page order, denying an appeal by Dugan’s legal team and also rejecting the claim that she is immune from such prosecution.
“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.
The closely watched case is headed for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, based on a statement from Dugan’s legal team:
“We continue to maintain that Hannah Dugan acted lawfully and within her independent authority as a judge. The inconsistent jury verdicts demonstrate that the trial proceedings were flawed, and we plan to appeal.”
A federal jury found Dugan guilty of obstructing federal immigration agents, a felony, on Dec. 18. The jury found her not guilty on a misdemeanor charge of concealing an undocumented immigrant agents were seeking to arrest.
The case thrust Dugan to the forefront of the clash between the judiciary and the Trump administration as it conducts a sweeping immigration crackdown nationwide.
Dugan’s legal team filed a motion to overturn the verdict against her, arguing immigration agents were not allowed to make arrests in the courthouse and judges are immune from such prosecution, they wrote in a 46-page motion.
Federal prosecutors had labeled the effort by Dugan’s team to overturn the jury’s guilty verdict against her as “absurd” and urged Adelman to reject it. They wrote in a 45-page response that overturning a jury’s verdict is reserved for extreme circumstances.
In an unusual move, Adelman did not set a sentencing date or order a pre-sentence investigation after the jury delivered the verdict.
Now that his order is out, Adelman said he expects the sentencing to be in June, but the date has not been set yet.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Milwaukee declined to comment on the order.
High bar to overturn jury verdict
Dugan’s high-powered defense team filed a broad appeal following the jury’s verdict, arguing immigration agents were not allowed to make the arrest in the courthouse, judges like Dugan are immune, and Adelman gave wrong answers to jury questions during deliberations.
The jury asked whether Dugan needed to know the identity of the person agents were seeking in the courthouse. Adelman’s answers differed for the two charges: Yes, she did need to know for the concealment charge. No, she did not need to know for the obstruction charge.
A juror who spoke to a Journal Sentinel reporter after the trial said she thinks the jury would have acquitted Dugan on both counts if Adelman’s answers were the same.
Prosecutors said Adelman’s answers to the jury were correct and he ruled rightly when he denied her immunity claim before the trial. They also said ICE agents had the power to make the arrest and that Dugan’s team was late in making that argument.
Adelman sided with the government, saying he saw no basis to order a new trial or dismiss the case. Such motions are rarely granted.
Adelman also wrote that Milwaukee judges were assuming ICE could make arrests.
“As the government notes, the operating assumption of those involved in creating a policy was that civil ICE arrests in public areas of the courthouse were lawful and the judiciary did not have the ability to stop them.”
Dugan resigned from bench after verdict
Dugan, 66, resigned from the bench on Jan. 3, as an effort to impeach her and remove her from the bench was mounting within the Republican-controlled state Legislature.
During the criminal case, Dugan had been suspended with pay, continuing to receive her roughly $175,000 annual salary. A fundraiser was started to pay for Dugan’s defense team.
A judge for nine years, Dugan faces up to five years in prison, but it is unlikely she would get time behind bars. For a defendant with no criminal history who is convicted of a nonviolent crime, federal sentencing guidelines generally call for probation.
Routine day in court becomes extraordinary
Dugan was charged with trying to help Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, elude a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest team on April 18, 2025.
Flores-Ruiz, 31, was appearing before Dugan on misdemeanor battery charges. He had illegally re-entered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. Six agents were waiting in the hallway to arrest him after his appearance before Dugan.
Dugan and another judge went into the public corridor, questioned the agents and directed them to the chief judge’s office. Dugan returned to her courtroom, called Flores-Ruiz’s case, and then led him and his lawyer into a hallway reserved for staff and jurors.
Dugan’s court reporter offered to show the pair out the private hallway, but Dugan responded, “I’ll do it. I’ll get the heat.”
Flores-Ruiz and his attorney emerged in the public corridor. Two agents followed. Flores-Ruiz was arrested outside after a short foot chase.
Dugan’s attorneys have noted Flores-Ruiz was arrested anyway. But prosecutors said Dugan turned what should have been a simple arrest into a volatile situation.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
