May 15 (UPI) — Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges related to her alleged interference with an ICE arrest.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries accepted Dugan’s not guilty plea to one charge each of obstructing an official proceeding and concealing a person from arrest and concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.
Dries set the next hearing in the case for July 9 and a start date for the trial on July 21.
Neither Dugan, nor attorney Steve Biskupic commented on whether they believed the case would go to trial.
Dugan’s lawyers submitted a motion to dismiss her case Wednesday which cited judicial immunity and federal overreach as reasons her case should be dismissed, as per the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, under which her legal team purports that federal agents cannot enter a state courthouse and arrest a sitting judge.
“Even if, contrary to what the trial evidence would show, Judge Dugan took the actions the complaint alleges, these plainly were judicial acts for which she has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution. Judges are empowered to maintain control over their courtrooms specifically and the courthouse generally,” the dismissal notice, posted online by Courthouse News, stated.
“Criminalizing the official acts of a state court judge controlling her courtroom would implicate all the concerns that motivated the 10th Amendment.”
Dugan was indicted on the two counts on Tuesday, related to the April 18 incident in which she allegedly misdirected federal agents to allow Eduardo Flores-Ruiz to evade arrest over his immigration status as she presided over a domestic abuse case he was involved in.
She is charged with confronting federal agents in the court’s hallway and escorting Flores-Ruiz out of her courtroom, although he was ultimately taken into immigration enforcement custody after a foot chase.
Dugan was then arrested on April 25 as FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency believed she “intentionally misdirected federal agents” away from Flores-Ruiz.
Dugan was temporarily removed from the bench by the Wisconsin Supreme Court after her arrest.
