A federal grand jury has indicted Judge Hannah Dugan of Wisconsin for her attempt to help an illegal alien who had an ICE arrest warrant out of her courtroom via the jury door.

For those who remember, this case began in April, when Judge Dugan had Eduardo Flores-Ruiz in her courtroom on charges of domestic violence. The Mexican national had been previously deported from the United States back in 2013, and ICE showed up in the public area of the courtroom, ready to take him into custody. Judge Dugan ordered them out, and told them to go see the chief judge. At that point, she actively helped Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer exit the courtroom through a non-public jury door, with the intent of not allowing ICE to take him. That did not work out for Flores-Ruiz, as ICE pursued him outside the courthouse and he was arrested.

The worst part about Judge Dugan helping Flores-Ruiz escape was that she “expedited” the case against him, even though this was a pre-trial hearing and the victims were in the courtroom to testify against him, and the prosecutor was not told that the judge was dumping the case.

Dugan is accused in the indictment of then expediting Flores-Ruiz’s case by handling it off the record while most of the arrest team members were in Ashley’s office. Dugan then directed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney, de la Rosa, to exit the room via a “non-public jury door,” according to the indictment. That door led to an adjacent hallway and to the public area on the 6th floor of the courthouse with elevators.

Dugan told de la Rosa that her client could appear by Zoom for his next court date.

But the federal agent who was left behind by Cervera saw de la Rosa and her client in the public hallway and got onto the elevator with them, leading to Flores-Ruiz’s eventual arrest.

Flores-Ruiz is being held in federal custody at the Ozaukee County Jail. He is expected to have a new public defender named before his next court hearing on May 14.

Judge Dugan was arrested for her actions, and suspended from the bench while the investigation proceeded. Late yesterday, the judge was formally indicted by a federal grand jury.

The two-page indictment accuses Dugan, 66, of obstructing a U.S. agency and concealing an individual to prevent an arrest. The two charges carry a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $350,000 fine, but sentences in cases involving nonviolent offenses typically are much shorter.

Dugan is expected to enter a plea at a May 15 hearing. But members of her defense team issued this statement: “As she said after her unnecessary arrest, Judge Dugan asserts her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court.”

The indictment came after a string of witnesses entered the federal courthouse throughout the day on May 13 to testify before the grand jury.

Among those making appearances were Alan Freed Jr., Dugan’s court clerk, and Mercedes de la Rosa, who was the attorney for Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the undocumented immigrant at the center of the case. De la Rosa has withdrawn from his case.

Also giving testimony was Milwaukee County Judge Kristela Cervera, a misdemeanor judge whose courtroom is next to Dugan’s. She arrived and left with defense attorney Michael F. Hart.

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The witnesses are going to be the key to the case against Judge Dugan, as they will be asked about not just her actions, but her demeanor. She is certain to plead not guilty on Thursday, since she is still claiming her innocence, but will a jury find her guilty, and would any potential punishment be strong enough to discourage other judges from pulling similar stunts? We keep hearing that “no one is above the law” – doesn’t that apply to judges as well? Will the Democrats who complained so vehemently about Judge Dugan’s arrest now argue about the grand jury’s indictment? Or will this simply become yet another avenue for those who agree with the judge to complain about President Trump, as some local letters to the editor have done?

And what of the domestic violence case against Flores-Ruiz, and the victims who were in the courtroom to testify against him? Judge Dugan, by attempting to get Flores-Ruiz out of her courtroom, placed her feelings, her anger at ICE, over the justice due to the victims. Will they finally get some kind of recognition that their case was badly handled at the next court date? Will Judge Dugan be asked about that during her trial?

There’s not really much question that Judge Dugan actively encouraged and allowed Flores-Ruiz to get away from ICE. The question will be the intent behind her actions, and if the federal government can prove, through the testimony of witnesses, that her actions were a deliberate obstruction of ICE’s legal actions. The DOJ is correct to be pursuing this case, because judges are not above the law, they cannot take the law into their own hands, and they cannot delay or deny justice for others based upon their personal opinions. I doubt if convicted that she will actually see any jail time, but a hefty fine and the loss of her judicial authority might serve as enough of an example to warn off other judges who have similar impulses. We here at Victory Girls will be watching this case as it makes its way through the courts.

Featured image via succo on Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license