The Milwaukee County, Wis., judge arrested for allegedly attempting to shield an illegal immigrant from ICE agents is getting somewhat of a reprieve, according to a Thursday report.
According to FOX6, the jury trial for Hannah Dugan has been delayed after U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman pushed it back to consider the defendant’s motion to dismiss the case entirely.
Dugan’s defense argued that she is shielded from prosecution under judicial immunity, which protects judges from legal liability for actions taken in the course of their official duties.
“If you look at the indictment, if you look at the five things they point out, those are things that judges do,” argued her defense attorney, Jason Luczak. “Judges have to set hearings, they can call cases off the record. In the four corners of the walls of that courtroom, she has broad discretion to do the things the state of Wisconsin gives her the power to do.”
However, the federal government contended that judicial immunity applies solely to civil cases and does not protect judges from facing criminal charges, FOX6 reported.
“Judicial immunity only applies to civil lawsuits. What is very strange about Judge Dugan’s motion to dismiss is she asserts an absolute immunity from criminal prosecution, even though all of the cases that she cites are about civil lawsuits,” Howard Schweber, University of Wisconsin political science professor emeritus, told the outlet.
Dugan’s trial was set to begin July 21. Adelman has not yet set a new date, FOX6 reported.
Federal prosecutors allege that on April 18, Dugan led Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, and his attorney out of her courtroom through a back exit after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse to arrest him for being in the country illegally.
The government’s filing also attacks Dugan’s claim that federal agents disrupted active proceedings in her courtroom on April 18 when they arrived to arrest Flores-Ruiz for alleged immigration violations, claiming that it was Dugan “who took it upon herself to interfere with the federal agents’ performance of their responsibilities,” according to the filing.
If convicted on both counts, she faces up to six years in prison and a $350,000 fine.
Prosecutors say Flores-Ruiz had illegally reentered the United States after being deported in 2013. In March, he was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence in Milwaukee County and appeared in Judge Dugan’s courtroom for a hearing on April 18.
According to court documents, Dugan’s clerk informed her that immigration agents were present in the courthouse to arrest Flores-Ruiz. An affidavit states that Dugan appeared visibly upset by their presence, reportedly calling the situation “absurd.”
After reviewing the arrest warrant with the agents, she allegedly instructed them to speak with the chief judge and escorted them away from the courtroom, FOX6 notes.
Dugan then returned to the courtroom, was heard saying something to the effect of “Wait, come with me,” before showing Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a back door, the affidavit says. The immigration agents eventually detained Flores-Ruiz outside the building following a foot chase.
Dugan, 66, was arrested by the FBI at the courthouse on April 25. She was indicted by a grand jury on May 13 and entered a not guilty plea two days later, on May 15.
Dugan’s attorney filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and is therefore immune from prosecution. The defense also claims the federal government infringed on Wisconsin’s sovereignty by interfering in a state courtroom and bringing criminal charges against a state judge.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended the Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, stating that it is in the public interest to temporarily remove her from the bench while she faces federal charges. That said, her attorneys told FOX6 News that she is still being paid her salary, however.