Wisconsin judge accused of helping immigrant set to present her case as trial winds down

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge facing obstruction and concealment charges is set to present her defense as the trial winds down, after prosecutors rested their case following three days of testimony. Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of interfering with a federal immigration task force during an attempted arrest at the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Closing arguments could begin as early as Thursday afternoon.

Prosecutors contend Dugan deliberately obstructed the arrest by stepping into the hallway with fellow judge Kristela Cervera, both in robes, and directing members of the federal task force to report to the chief judge's office. They said Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national who had been arrested on state battery charges, was in the courthouse for a hearing on April 18 when the attempt occurred. Six agents and officers waited outside the courtroom to arrest him as he emerged; prosecutors say Dugan and Cervera walked out, and Dugan led Flores-Ruiz out a private door into the hallway, prompting a foot chase through traffic before he was finally taken into custody. Transcripts show Dugan telling her court reporter that she'd take "the heat" for showing Flores-Ruiz out the private door, according to investigators.

Cervera testified that she was uncomfortable backing up Dugan during the confrontation and that she was shocked when she heard Dugan led Flores-Ruiz out the private door, adding that judges shouldn't help defendants evade arrest. She also said Dugan told her three days after the incident that she was "in the doghouse" with the chief judge, Carl Ashley, because she "tried to help that guy." Dugan's attorneys have countered that she didn't intend to obstruct the arrest and was attempting to follow a courthouse policy drafted by Ashley that required court employees to refer immigration agents to supervisors when an arrest was attempted inside the building. They have argued that the arrest team could have detained Flores-Ruiz at any point after he emerged from the courtroom and that Dugan shouldn't be blamed for the decision to pursue him outside.

The case centers on a highly unusual set of actions by a sitting judge and is connected to broader national debates over immigration enforcement. Prosecutors have sought to frame the incident as an intentional effort to shield Flores-Ruiz from arrest, while Dugan's defense says she was trying to adhere to a policy and that deputies or agents could have acted at other points. The courtroom confrontation drew attention to how immigration enforcement intersects with judicial procedures and has been described by some observers as an extraordinary consequence of broader immigration crackdowns under the federal administration.

With four witnesses expected to testify for the defense, closing arguments could begin as early as Thursday afternoon, bringing the proceedings toward a jury instruction and verdict in a case that has drawn national interest in the realm of US politics.