Milwaukee County Judge Dugan trial: Live updates Wednesday, Dec. 17

MILWAUKEE - Testimony will continue Wednesday in the trial of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan, who federal prosecutors accuse of helping undocumented immigrant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz evade capture at the courthouse earlier this year.

Live updates from Wednesday, Dec. 17

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Assistant District Attorney Melissa Buss

Defense cross-examination:

Coming up:

Defense Attorney Jason Luczak is expected to cross-examine Buss.

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Judge Adelman allows break

10:23 a.m.:

Defense Attorney Jason Luczak requested a morning break. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman excused the jury for 10 minutes.

Government questioning: Dugan calls Flores-Ruiz case

10:21 a.m.:

Buss said Dugan is the person who decides which cases to call and when. She said she did not recall Dugan calling Flores-Ruiz's case, and she was later informed it was called off the record.

Buss said she was surprised and never learned when Flores-Ruiz's next court date would be, so she was not able to inform victims about the status of the case.

Government questioning: Court notified of ICE's presence

10:16 a.m.:

Buss testified to overhearing that ICE was present at the courthouse. She believes a clerk mentioned it, and Dugan reacted to that by getting up and going into her chambers.

Buss said she later saw Dugan, who was off the bench, motion for Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to come forward toward the jury door. Flores-Ruiz and his attorney went through the jury door, which is typically closed.

She said the jury door from the courtroom leads to Dugan's chambers and a hallway. She said the hallway leads to another door and a stairwell, and it

Government questioning: Assistant district attorney in Dugan's courtroom

10:10 a.m.:

The government called Melissa Buss, a Milwaukee County assistant district attorney who was assigned to Dugan's courtroom on April 18. Attorney Kelly Brown Watzka questioned her.

Buss testified that the calendar for Dugan's courtroom on April 18 included Flores-Ruiz's case. He was scheduled for a pre-trial conference at 8:30 a.m.

The assistant district attorney said a victim witness advocate informed her that victims in the Flores-Ruiz case were present that morning. Buss said, when victims are present, she prefers for cases to be called on the record.

Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley

Government re-direct: Disagreement with federal policy, law

10:06 a.m.:

Ashley said his press release about ICE in the courthouse, from April 6, expressed concerns that he took seriously. He said his disagreement with a federal policy or law would not give him authority to interfere with a lawful arrest in a public arrest. Ashley said he did not tell ICE they could not conduct an arrest in a public hallway.

Defense cross-examination: Chief judge reads draft policy

10:01 a.m.:

Ashley was provided a copy of his draft policy. He testified that it included language for court employees to use if ICE attempted to enter a non-public area: "I do not consent, but because I have no other choice at this time, I will not interfere with your order."

Ashley said he got that quote from a similar policy from San Francisco County, California. He said the San Francisco County policy explicitly also stated that ICE could conduct operations in public areas, but he removed that statement when drafting his own policy.

Defense cross-examination: Chief judge's press release about ICE

9:54 a.m.:

Defense Attorney Steven Biskupic cross-examined Ashley. Binders were distributed to Ashley and jurors, and he walked the court through exhibits included in the binder.

Ashley testified the binder included a printout of an April 6 email he sent; it was a press release regarding ICE draining people at the courthouse complex. In that press release, he wrote that ICE agents conducting arrests there posed "significant concerns" about "integrity and impartiality in the judicial system."

Ashley's email said ICE's presence could have a "chilling effect on access to justice," cause people to "perceive courthouses as unsafe due to fear of detention," lead to "confusion over legal protections." He summarized that allowing ICE to operate without the courthouse complex "had the potential to significantly damage the integrity of the court system" and said courts must remains "free from the threats of immigration enforcement."

Government questioning: ICE arrest communicated to colleagues

9:50 a.m.:

Ashley said he sent an email on the afternoon of April 18, notifying colleagues that ICE had conducted a courthouse arrest. He detailed what took place and noted ICE's actions were consistent with his draft policy.

The chief judge said Dugan replied to that email the following Monday, and clarified that ICE did not present a warrant in the hallway.

Government questioning: Misunderstanding of arrest

9:47 a.m.:

Ashley said it was his understanding, after speaking to an ICE agent, that the arrest would take place in the public hallway.

The chief judge said he then spoke to a courthouse safety supervisor, who informed him that the arrest did not take place as he anticipated.

Ashley said he then texted Dugan a few times, asking her to call him, and he received a response hours later. He ultimately decided to table any conversation because he was concerned about what might have happened.

Government questioning: Notification that ICE was present

9:40 a.m.:

Ashley said he was at the home when he was notified that ICE was present at the courthouse, and he called his district court administrator – who was at the courthouse – to see if agents were there.

The administrator called Ashley, he said, to say ICE agent(s) were there. He said he was not expecting the call, but he was not surprised. He then spoke to an ICE agent, who was in the chief judge's office, on speakerphone.

Ashley said he asked for a copy of the ICE warrant, the agent complied, and the chief judge reviewed the administrative warrant. He was unsure how many people were in the room while the call was on speakerphone. The ICE agent asked for the call to take place in a more private area, and he agreed that would be OK.

Ashley testified that his draft policy, at that time, had not yet been sent to ICE. The conversation with the agent then turned to that policy, and he told the agent that he did not believe they could stop them from conducting an arrest in a public hallway. He described the conversation as "amicable."

Government questioning: Administrative vs. judicial warrants

9:36 a.m.:

The draft policy also said, according to Ashley's testimony, an ICE administrative warrant authorized them to conduct an arrest – but that such a warrant did not compel courthouse personnel to let ICE into non-public areas or search certain records.

Ashley testified that a judicial warrant, on the other hand, would grant ICE access to a non-public space if necessary. He still expressed concern that doing so could be disruptive to court activities.

Government questioning: Communication about draft policy

9:28 a.m.:

Ashley said he sent a draft policy with an attachment from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, notifying judges about what they should expect about courthouse arrests, on April 9.

The chief judge testified that "system partners" would have to vet the draft policy – including corporation counsel, the sheriff's office and others. He also sought input from ICE.

Ashley said he conducted a Zoom meeting in which he said he believed they were unable to control what happens in public hallways. He believes Dugan was not at that meeting, but was hesitant to say she was not in attendance.

At that point, Ashley said the draft policy was not official policy. However, the draft policy said employees would be responsible for notifying the district court administrator and chief judge about ICE activity at the courthouse.

Government questioning: Emails discuss ICE at courthouse

9:18 a.m.:

Attorney Keith Alexander questioned Ashley in the government's case. Ashley has been a judge for 26 years, all with Milwaukee County, and has been chief judge since April 2023.

Ashley testified he emailed all Milwaukee County judges on April 3, 2025. In that email, he notified them about an ICE arrest at the courthouse complex that happened in March. He expressed uncertainty about how, if at all, the courts had the authority to intervene in an arrest that was happening in a public hallway.

The chief judge testified he does not believe the judiciary has the authority to intervene.

Ashley said he and others received guidance in response to his email on April 4 that ICE can legally conduct enforcement in public areas of the courthouse, and there are "statutory and policy limitations" to such enforcement.

Ashley testified that Dugan replied, thanking the sender for the information and asking for at least a draft policy on how to handle immigration enforcement operations.

Milwaukee County District Court Administrator Stephanie Garbo

Defense cross-examination: How long was the phone call?

9:14 a.m.:

Attorney Steven Biskupic cross-examined Garbo. She said she could not recall whether there was discussion about whether a courtroom is a non-public space, as it relates to where ICE could conduct arrests.

During cross-examination, the government's re-direct and the defense's re-cross, Garbo was asked to recall how long the call lasted between Chief Judge Carl Ashley and the agent.

Government questioning: Questions about courthouse policy

9:11 a.m.:

According to Garbo, she said Chief Judge Carl Ashley was primarily discussing a draft policy regarding ICE at the courthouse with an agent. She had it was her understanding that the policy was still in draft form, and there was no interim policy on April 18.

Garbo testified there was discussion about a warrant, and Ashley asked her to make a photocopy of it. She then sent a digital copy to Ashley.

Garbo said Ashley and ICE had a "professional" conversation about arrests, but she did not recall specifics. She said the courthouse's public hallways were available for arrests.

Government questioning: Calls with the chief judge

9:03 a.m.:

The government called Stephanie Garbo, administrator for Milwaukee County district court, as its first witness on Wednesday. Garbo was working at the courthouse on April 18.

Garbo testified that Chief Judge Carl Ashley called and told her he believed ICE agents were coming to Dugan's court that day. She said she noticed two men sitting on a bench – later identified as ICE agents – and Ashley did not ask her to interact with agents, check to see if they had a warrant or bring them to his office from the public hallway.

Garbo said Judge Kristela Cervera and an agent later came back to the chief judge's office, and she arranged a call between the agent and Ashley. She said another agent was present but did not participate in the call.

Judge Adelman calls court into session

9:02 a.m.:

The 13-person jury was brought into the courtroom for a third day of testimony in the trial. U.S. District Judge Adelman said: "We're making good progress."

Bonus coverage from Wednesday, Dec. 17

Takeaways from day 2 of Hannah Dugan trial

Immigration attorney and criminal defense attorney Marc Christopher joins FOX6 WakeUp to talk about the Judge Dugan trial.

Dugan charged

The backstory:

A federal grand jury indicted Dugan, and she pleaded not guilty, in May.

The grand jury's two-count indictment accused Dugan of helping an undocumented man, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, evade federal agents who were at the Milwaukee County Courthouse to arrest him on April 18. It also states Dugan obstructed those agents in the process.

Flores-Ruiz was in Dugan's courtroom for a misdemeanor battery case. Prosecutors said Dugan told federal agents to go to the chief judge's office down the hall, and she is then accused of telling Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to leave her courtroom through a back door as federal agents waited outside the courtroom to arrest him.

Agents arrested Flores-Ruiz outside the courthouse after a brief foot chase that day. Dugan was arrested by federal agents at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 25.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court later suspended Dugan indefinitely after she was arrested and charged. Flores-Ruiz later pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the U.S. and, in November, was deported.

Federal Judge Lynn Adelman is overseeing the Dugan trial.

Complete coverage

Dig deeper:

FOX6 News will stream special coverage of the Dugan trial each day on FOX LOCAL. The app is free to download on your phone, tablet or smart TV.

The Source: FOX6 News reviewed court filings and video associated with the case, is at the federal courthouse for the trial and referenced prior coverage of the case.

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