FBI Report Details Case Against Dugan, ICE Courthouse Arrest

FBI officials escort a handcuffed Judge Hannah Dugan from the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Image from the FBI.

The criminal complaint filed Thursday against Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan gives a first look at the federal government’s case against the judge for her alleged obstruction of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest.

Dugan was arrested Friday morning at the courthouse and arraigned a few hours later on one count of obstruction and one count of concealing an individual to prevent their arrest. She was released following the hearing.

The criminal complaint, filed by a special agent from the the FBI’s Milwaukee Field Office, details how six officers from the Milwaukee ICE [Enforcement and Removal Operations] Task Force arrived at the courthouse on April 18 to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican citizen, who was to appear before Dugan on three counts of misdemeanor battery.

Agents on the task force represented four federal law enforcement agencies including ICE, the FBI, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The primary issue in the government’s case against Dugan appears to be the fact that she allegedly directed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to leave her courtroom through a private entryway called the “jury door.” The hallway still leads out to the public hallway of the sixth floor of the courthouse, where agents had positioned themselves for the arrest.

When the removal team arrived at the courthouse, they were asked by courthouse security officers and Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO) deputies to present their identification and badges. A shift sergeant, who spoke to the agents as they went through security, asked them to wait until after the hearing concluded to arrest Flores-Ruiz, according to the criminal complaint.

Once on the sixth floor and outside of Dugan’s courtroom, Flores-Ruiz’s attorney, a state public defender, took a photo of the agents, according to the complaint. She told the court clerk, who then told Dugan, who “became visibly angry, commented that the situation was absurd, left the bench, and entered chambers,” according to the complaint. When the agent said they were there to make an arrest, Dugan asked if they had a judicial warrant, “and Deportation Officer A responded, ‘No, I have an administrative warrant.’”

Existing Milwaukee Police Department and MCSO order local law enforcement personnel not to comply with administrative warrants.

Dugan said the agents needed a judicial warrant and told them they needed to speak to Chief Judge Carl Ashley. The chief judge was not in the courthouse at the time. But the agents went to his office and spoke to him on the phone.

“During their conversation, the Chief Judge stated he was working on a policy which would dictate locations within the courthouse where ICE could safely conduct enforcement actions,” according to the complaint. “The Chief Judge emphasized that such actions should not take place in courtrooms or other private locations within the building.”

As the agents walked back to Dugan’s court room, the court bailiff “made a comment about Judge Dugan ‘pushing’ Flores-Ruiz’s case through, which the arrest team interpreted to mean that Judge Dugan was attempting to expedite Flores-Ruiz’s hearing.” The case was adjourned without participation from the prosecutor, according to the complaint.

In interviews with the federal investigators, witnesses including the bailiff and the prosecuting attorney from the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office said Dugan escorted Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out of her courtroom through the “jury door” that is not typically used by the public or defendants outside of MCSO custody.

A DEA agent on the team saw Flores-Ruiz and his attorney enter the hallway near the courtroom and walk briskly to the elevators. The agent managed to ride the elevator down with them, and communicated with the other members of the removal team their movements until they were able to confront him outside of the southern end of the courthouse near the flagpoles.

Flores-Ruiz ran and they chased him the entire length of the courthouse, apprehending him near near the intersection of W. State Street and 10th Street.

ICE, according to the complaint, was alerted to look for Flores-Ruiz because his finger prints taken by MCSO matched finger prints in a federal database. Flores-Ruiz, a citizen of Mexico, was previously deported in 2013 and re-entered the country without seeking or obtaining permission, according the criminal complaint.

ICE is reportedly “focusing its resources on apprehending charged defendants making appearances in criminal cases – and not arresting victims, witnesses, or individuals appearing for matters in family or civil court,” according to the complaint. Additionally, agents are executing warrants at the courthouse because the security there ensures their target will not be armed.

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