The trial of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan over charges she helped an illegal immigrant evade arrest by federal immigration officers began with federal prosecutors showing the jury audio of her claiming she would “get the heat” for her alleged actions.
Dugan is facing two obstruction charges in federal court over her actions in April, when she allegedly allowed Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal immigrant who appeared before her court, and his lawyer to exit her courtroom via a back door after federal immigration agents appeared at the courthouse to arrest him.
The trial of the indicted state judge began Monday morning at a federal courthouse in Milwaukee, with Justice Department prosecutors using a recording of Dugan discussing federal immigration authorities outside her courtroom as part of their opening pitch to the jury.
During opening arguments, DOJ lawyers played audio footage in which the judge and her court reporter can be heard discussing the presence of ICE officers outside her courtroom in the public hallway and whether to allow Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer to leave the courtroom through a back door and a non-public hallway. Dugan allegedly told her court reporter she would show the illegal immigrant and his lawyer where to go, saying, “I’ll do it. I’ll get the heat,” per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
DOJ lawyers stressed in their opening statement that Dugan’s actions were unlawful and amounted to creating an escape plan for the illegal immigrant to evade arrest by federal officers.
“The judicial robe the defendant wore that morning did not put her above the law,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Alexander said, according to the outlet.
Dugan’s lawyers stressed that the burden would be on prosecutors to prove Dugan unlawfully obstructed federal law enforcement, and they also discussed the confusion and uncertainty about immigration arrest procedures at the Milwaukee courthouse, according to local Milwaukee news station WITI.
The first witness called by the DOJ was FBI Special Agent Erin Lucker, who Justice Department lawyers questioned about the federal investigation into Dugan for her alleged actions in April.
Lucker testified about a notice Dugan had placed on her courtroom door, which stated that people before her court could request a virtual hearing if they felt unsafe coming to the courthouse.
During Lucker’s testimony, the jury viewed security footage from the courthouse, but not from inside Dugan’s courtroom, and audio recordings from Dugan’s courtroom.
Dugan’s lawyers questioned Lucker about ICE arrest policies, asking if the officers present at the courthouse that day were wearing any clothing that identified them as law enforcement. Lucker testified that while the officers were not wearing any identifying clothing, because they were armed, they would have had to check in and notify the courthouse ahead of time, per WITI.
The trial begins days after 14 jurors, two of whom were alternates, were selected late last week. On Monday, one of the jurors called in sick, leaving 13 jurors, including one alternate, with U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman instructing the jurors to “please try and stay healthy during the trial,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
JURY SELECTED FOR TRIAL OF JUDGE HANNAH DUGAN IN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ESCAPE CASE
Dugan was suspended from her duties as a Milwaukee County circuit judge by the Wisconsin Supreme Court shortly after she was federally charged earlier this year. Dugan’s charges have a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $350,000 fine if convicted.
The trial is expected to continue through at least the end of the week, with a decision from the jury on the charges filed against Dugan expected shortly after the trial concludes.
