Trial for judge accused of helping illegal immigrant evade arrest set for December
The article reports that Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan will face trial in December on charges of allegedly helping an illegal immigrant evade federal immigration authorities. The trial is scheduled to begin on December 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, with jury selection on December 11 and 12. Originally set for July, the trial was postponed after Dugan filed a motion to dismiss the charges, claiming judicial immunity.
The indictment accuses Dugan of allowing Eduardo Flores-Ruiz,an illegal immigrant who appeared before her in court,and his lawyer to leave the courthouse thru a back door to avoid arrest by federal agents. Flores-Ruiz was arrested shortly afterward, and Dugan herself was arrested about a week later. She has pleaded not guilty to two counts of obstruction.
Dugan’s defense argued she has judicial immunity, citing prior court decisions including the supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in *Trump v. United States*, wich recognized “presumptive immunity” for official acts but not for unofficial ones.However,a federal magistrate judge recommended denial of her dismissal motion,a proposal that was adopted by U.S. district Judge lynn adelman, who ruled that immunity does not apply simply because the alleged conduct involved judicial duties.
Following the ruling, the case is set to proceed, with Dugan suspended from her judicial duties by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. If convicted, Dugan faces up to six years in prison and fines up to $350,000.
Trial for judge accused of helping illegal immigrant evade arrest set for December
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan will go on trial in December for allegedly helping an illegal immigrant evade federal immigration authorities, a federal judge said on Wednesday.
Dugan’s trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin will be held on Dec. 15 in a federal courthouse in Milwaukee, while jury selection will be held on Dec. 11 and 12. The trial was originally scheduled for July 21, but that date was scrapped after Dugan filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming she was immune from the criminal obstruction charges filed against her by the Justice Department.
The indicted Milwaukee judge is accused of allowing Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal immigrant who appeared before her court in April, and his lawyer to exit her courtroom via a back door after federal immigration agents appeared at the courthouse to arrest him. Flores-Ruiz was arrested by federal authorities shortly after leaving the courthouse through the back door, while Dugan was arrested in a highly publicized fashion roughly a week later.
Dugan has pleaded not guilty to the two obstruction charges filed against her. The indicted judge’s lawyers claimed she had a form of judicial immunity by invoking previous court decisions, including the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Trump v. United States, which found that presidents have “presumptive immunity” for official acts and no immunity for unofficial acts.
A federal magistrate judge brought in to evaluate Dugan’s immunity claims recommended that her motion to dismiss the case be denied, a ruling U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman adopted last week.
“There is no basis for granting immunity simply because some of the allegations in the indictment describe conduct that could be considered ‘part of a judge’s job.’ As the magistrate judge noted, the same is true in the bribery prosecutions, concededly valid, where the judges were prosecuted for performing official acts intertwined with bribery,” Adelman wrote in his ruling last week.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ESCAPE CASE AGAINST JUDGE HANNAH DUGAN WILL PROCEED: FEDERAL JUDGE
With the motion to dismiss denied, the high-profile case is back on track for a trial in three months.
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.
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