Federal prosecutors have provided the fullest picture to date of how they allege Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan helped an undocumented immigrant elude federal agents, including the judge telling a colleague afterwards that she was “in the doghouse because I tried to help that guy.”
The Nov. 7 motion by prosecutors includes many familiar details, but also features new information that could be crucial during the trial, which begins Dec. 15.
The filing includes new comments allegedly made by Dugan and others in the courtroom after she realized a defendant set to appear before her on battery charges that day, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, was the target of federal agents.
According to prosecutors, an unidentified person in court said that Flores-Ruiz and his attorney may not know how to get out a staff exit, to which Dugan responds, “I’ll do it. I’ll get the heat.” She then leads Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to a door leading to a back hallway not used by the public.
Prosecutors write that fellow Milwaukee County Judge Kristela Cervera, who stood by Dugan as she questioned federal agents, was “uncomfortable with Judge Dugan’s behavior and tone.”
After Dugan learned immigration agents were outside her courtroom, she allegedly went into Cervera’s courtroom and directed her to accompany her to the hallway to question the agents, the motion says.
Cervera started to remove her robe, but Dugan told her to keep her robe on, the motion says. Judges rarely wear their robes outside their courtrooms.
Accompanied by an attorney, Cervera testified before the grand jury in May. Dugan was indicted that same day.
Dugan’s team slammed the government for including the new allegations in the motion.
“The government has apparently felt compelled to put its version of disputed facts into the public arena, ironically, just after a court hearing to address the issue of potential juror bias. This was not necessary to the government motion. Obviously, trials are meant to address contested facts, and the facts here are definitely contested.”
Federal prosecutors and Cervera were not immediately available for comment.
Motions lay out legal battle to come
The details come in a 24-page filing by prosecutors aimed at limiting the arguments and material used by Dugan’s legal team during the five-day trial. Dugan’s team filed their own motion on Nov. 7.
Such motions are routine, but legal veterans said it was unusual how much new detail the government included.
Defense attorney Stephen Kravit said it was “completely inappropriate” for the government to include photos and other information in its memo.
“This is a jury grooming memo,” he said.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mel Johnson agreed it was uncommon to include many new facts in a motion. However, Johnson said the government could argue the facts were needed to support their 13 motions for limits on testimony. He did not review the motion.
“The fact that it is generally unusual does not mean that it is necessarily inappropriate,” Johnson said.
In their filings, Dugan’s defense team renewed their earlier motion to dismiss the case, saying it was barred by judicial immunity.
“Judge Dugan acted lawfully — doing acts that were part of her job,” the defense motion read.
The motion added, “Judge Dugan was within the scope of her job.”
The defense team also objected to the jury instructions and is requesting that the judge allow them to include “statements made to the media and on social media by the Attorney General and the Director of the FBI” about Dugan.
“The government seems to have no evidence of corruption at all, as the Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit, and common usage all define it,” they wrote.
Feds want to bar Dugan’s comments to police
In their filing, prosecutors urge U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman to bar the defense from taking steps to try to convince the jury members to toss the case based their personal views on immigration enforcement and policy. Prosecutors then pointed to comments made by Dugan’s team to the media in the past.
“In these sessions, the defense indicated, among other things, that this prosecution represents an ‘attack on the independent judiciary’ and that the case is ‘politically charged,’” the filing said. “Such claims, if made in court, essentially would allege governmental misconduct, which is not a proper subject for the jury.”
Federal prosecutors also want Adelman to prevent Dugan and her attorneys from introducing statements she made to Milwaukee police officers in a recorded interview on April 22.
The judge had called police to her home on an unrelated subject, but the filing said Dugan then began “making self-serving statements about her interaction” with Flores-Ruiz.
“Although the government does anticipate eliciting testimony about some of the defendant’s admissions in other contexts, the April 22, 2025, interview would not correct or clarify any of them,” prosecutors wrote.
Around that same time, prosecutors allege, Dugan told a colleague, “I’m in the doghouse because I tried to help that guy go through the hallway.”
In addition, prosecutors urged Adelman to prevent Dugan’s attorneys from arguing that she can’t be convicted because her actions did not actually prevent Flores-Ruiz from being arrested.
The prosecutors’ filing noted that Dugan’s lawyers have repeatedly argued that Flores-Ruiz and his attorney re-entered the public hallway near the entrance to Dugan’s courtroom — and were quickly spotted by federal agents.
“In other words, the defense may attempt to argue ‘no harm; no foul,’” prosecutors wrote. “Such comment should be disallowed because neither of the statutes charged in the indictment requires that the defendant succeed to be convicted or that law enforcement could have changed the location of the arrest.”
The prosecutors also want to exclude any arguments or testimony about other immigration arrests at the Milwaukee County Courthouse and discussion about Dugan’s “prior good acts” and “good motives.”
Dugan, 66, pleaded not guilty to the two charges, one a felony and the other a misdemeanor. If convicted, she faces up to six years in prison, but first-time nonviolent offenders typically get shorter sentences or probation.
She has been suspended with pay by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She makes nearly $175,000 a year.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A second Milwaukee County judge was ‘uncomfortable’ with Hannah Dugan’s actions, prosecutors say
Reporting by John Diedrich, Daniel Bice and Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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