Dugan Told Fellow Judge She Was In the Doghouse Because She ‘Tried to Help That Guy’

Earlier I wrote about day two of the trial of Judge Hannah Dugan. It started off relatively slowly with prosecutors calling each member of the arrest team who all told basically the same story about what happened that morning. I promised to update that story if there were any dramatic developments but this one is dramatic enough that I’ve decided to make it a stand-alone post. 

The judge who was with Judge Dugan confronting the arrest team in the hallway took the stand and I think it’s fair to say her testimony did not help Judge Dugan. Judge Kristela Cervera testified that the courthouse is a public building, meaning anyone is allowed in.

Cervera testified that the Milwaukee County Courthouse is a public building and, once they pass through security, “technically” anyone is free to enter the courthouse for any reason. 

She then testified that Judge Dugan had summoned her out of her courtroom, which is next to Dugan’s, in order to check a warrant. Judge Dugan asked her to keep her robe on, though Judge Cervera was uncomfortable with this. She also confirmed the testimony from earlier today that Judge Dugan seemed angry or irritated when she spoke to the arrest team.

Cervera testified that she was summoned from the bench by Dugan, who told her to keep on her robe so they could approach federal immigration agents in the hallway. 

She testified that she hesitated. Cervera said she and other judges don’t typically wear their robes in the hallway, as the robe conveys authority.

“I didn’t want to walk in the hallway with my robe on,” she said.

She also said the federal agent was professional, and in contrast Dugan could have been more “diplomatic.”

“Her irritation seemed to progress to anger,” Cervera testified. 

After Judge Dugan ordered members of the arrest team to go to the chief judge’s office, Judge Cervera walked down the hall to show them where to go. But when she looked back, Judge Dugan was gone.

She said she felt “abandoned” by Dugan when she led federal officials to the chief judge’s office and realized Dugan hadn’t followed her.

“I was amazed,” Cervera said. “I thought she left me.”

A bit later in the day, Judge Cervera received plaudits from several public defenders. At first she wasn’t sure why but later she was “mortified” that they had thought she was trying to help a criminal defendant escape arrest.

Maura Gingerich, an attorney who was identified as the woman taking the photos of federal agents, said “we know what you guys were trying to do,” Cervera testified. Gingerich is on the witness list.

When Cervera learned the FBI would be contacting her about Dugan, she said the comments made by public defenders made more sense and that she was “mortified.”

“I thought that someone may think that I was a part of some of what happened,” she said.

Later that day, Judge Dugan told Judge Cervera that she was in trouble with the chief judge (who was out but had spoken on the phone with members of the arrest team.) And this quote from Judge Cervera seems like it could really demolish Dugan’s case. Dugan admitted she was trying to “help that guy.”

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Kristela Cervera testified that Dugan told her she was “in the doghouse” with the chief judge because she had “tried to help that guy.”

That guy is obviously Eduardo Flores-Ruiz. In other words, Dugan admitted to doing the thing this trial is about, the very thing Judge Cervera was “mortified” that public defenders thought she had done.

On cross, Judge Cervera admitted she had occasionally let lawyers use the non-public hallways and said there might be some “unique” circumstances under which she would allow a defendant to use those hallways. But on redirect questioning she clarified that helping a defendant avoid arrest was not a circumstance in which she would allow a defendant to use the non-public hallways. All in all, this seems like pretty devastating testimony for Judge Dugan from a fellow judge who was present that morning.

Next on the stand was Sheriff’s Office Sgt. David DeSmet, a supervisor handling security at the courthouse. He testified federal agents did not need an escort in the courthouse. He also said he had asked them not to arrest Flores-Ruiz until after his court hearing so he wouldn’t have a failure to appear on his record that was beyond his control. He also testified that Dugan had told him it was illegal to make arrests in a courtroom.

DeSmet testified that Dugan told him it was illegal to arrest people in the courtroom, based on a “Supreme Court decision.” He said it surprised him, and asked her to cite the case so he could research it and relay information to deputies, but he never received anything about that case law.

Two points about this. First, Judge Cervera testified that she allows arrests to take place in her courtroom several times a week. Second, the arrest team never attempted to make an arrest in Judge Dugan’s courtroom, only in the hallway outside, which is a public area.

DeSmet also testified that there was no requirement for federal agents to go to the chief judge’s office and that he did not see judges wearing their robes in the public hallways. He also said he didn’t remember agents making arrests in the hallway prior to Turmp.

The very next person to testify, Cassandra Kubiszewski, is a field operations director for ICE. She testified that arrests in courthouse hallways had been going on for a long time.

Cassandra Kubiszewski, an assistant field operations director for ICE, said such arrests have occurred for as long as she can remember.

“It’s not unusual to do courthouse arrests. We have been doing it for a long time,” she said.

There were a couple more witnesses before the day ended but the highlight was clearly Judge Cervera. I’m guessing she and Judge Dugan are not going to be friends after that testimony. 

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