Jury begins deliberations in Milwaukee judge’s ICE obstruction trial

MILWAUKEE (CN) — The jury in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan’s ICE obstruction trial began deliberations on Thursday after four days of testimony from officers, other judges and courtroom witnesses.

Dugan decided not to testify or present any additional evidence to prove her innocence. The defense did call a few witnesses, including former Mayor Tom Barrett, who has known Dugan for over 50 years.

“I think she’s an honest person,” Barrett said.

Before retreating to the deliberation room, the parties made closing statements, adding up to around three hours, hitting key points in each of their arguments.

Dugan, 66, was indicted in May on charges of obstruction and concealing an individual, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, set for deportation on April 18. Upon learning that ICE was waiting in the hallway to make an arrest, Dugan reportedly recruited Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Kristela Cervera to join her in confronting the six plainclothes officers while wearing their judicial robes.

From there, the government purports she returned to her own courtroom to expedite Flore-Ruiz’s scheduling and usher him and his attorney out of the courtroom through a private hallway to evade the officers.

The parties homed in on certain disagreements in the timeline during their three-hour-long closing statements. The defense claimed Dugan did not know who ICE was targeting and that it was a chaotic and confusing situation during which she did her best to follow a draft policy distributed by Chief Judge Carl Ashley.

The government, aiming to prove criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt, claimed Dugan intended to send Flores-Ruiz and his attorney, Mercedes de la Rosa, down a private staircase leading to the fifth floor in a restricted hallway.

De la Rosa testified on Wednesday that she was actually the one to ask for the case to be heard quickly off the record because she was worried her client would be targeted by ICE for speaking Spanish.

She also says no one told her about the private staircase.

Dugan’s attorney Jason Luczak accused the government of dangerous overreach in his closing argument and said it is making an example out of her.

He accused the government’s lawyers of manipulating courtroom audio, withholding information and trying to confuse the jury by showing videos of the private staircase that Flores-Ruiz didn’t take.

“If you don’t trust what the government has put forward, that should give you reasonable doubt,” Luczak said. “Can you be confident that the prosecution of this case is free from influence by the top levels of government?”

The government spent its arguments laser-focused on the elements of each charge and painting Dugan as an irate, unreasonable and rude judge who was effectuating her own views of what the law should be.

“The defense would have you believe that the defendant’s actions were the result of confusion, anger and paranoia,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Brown Watzka. “I’ll agree with them about the anger. … She was an angry judge who was fed up and decided to corruptly take matters into her own hands.”

Though Watzka did not use the term “activist judge” preferred by other members of President Donald Trump’s government, the sentiment was heavily implied.

“’I’ll do it. I’ll take the heat.’ These are not the words of a judge who was confused,” Watzka said.

On rebuttal, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling told the jury that the defense’s case is riddled with “red herrings and distractions.” He spent a substantial amount of time pointing to details he said don’t matter or are plain false.

The jury also heard brief testimony from two more circuit judges and state public defender Maura Gingerich, whom the government repeatedly pointed out as having taken pictures of the arrest team in the public hallway.

Cervera testified on Tuesday that Gingerich approached her on April 18  to thank her for what she “was trying to do” and notified her that Flores-Ruiz had been arrested on 10th Street that morning.

She said the interaction horrified her. Gingerich, however, said Thursday that she was referring only to Cervera’s leading the officers to the check-in with the chief judge before making an arrest, as the draft policy requires.

Dugan Attorney Steven Biskupic renewed two objections before U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, a Bill Clinton appointee, returned to his chambers, one relating to certain parts of the jury instructions that he argues are confusing and another for acquittal.

This motion is not likely to be granted, but Adelman indicated both will be taken under advisement.

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