Fellow Milwaukee judge said she felt ‘irritated’ and ‘abandoned’ by Dugan

A fellow Milwaukee County judge told jurors Tuesday afternoon she felt “irritated” and “abandoned” by Judge Hannah Dugan during an incident that eventually led to Dugan facing criminal charges.

The testimony from Judge Kristela Cervera came on the second day of Dugan’s federal trial. Prosecutors allege that Dugan obstructed law enforcement when she led a man through a side door of her courtroom in April. That’s after federal agents had showed up at the courthouse to arrest the man for being in the country illegally.

Cervera, who worked on the same floor as Dugan, recalls Dugan motioning to her with a sense of urgency after the agents arrived Monday morning. She recalls Dugan telling her, “ICE is here. We need to check a warrant.”

Cervera said she started to unzip her robe, but Dugan told her to keep it on. She did keep the robe on as she followed Dugan into the hallway, but said she was uncomfortable doing so. Cervera told jurors the robe conveys a sense of ceremony that’s typically reserved for the courtroom.

Cerva described herself as a “little confused,” and said Dugan “seemed irritated at this point.”

While in the hallway, Dugan asked a pair of agents for a warrant, and asked what kind of warrant they had. They told her they had an administrative warrant, which is a warrant signed by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official.

Dugan asked whether they had a warrant signed by a judge, and the agents said they did not.

Dugan demanded warrant signed by a judge

After that, Dugan’s “irritation seemed to progress into anger,” Cervera testified. Dugan said three times in quick succession, “It needs to be a judicial warrant. It needs to be a judicial warrant. It needs to be a judicial warrant,” according to Cervera.

Cervera echoed Dugan’s viewpoint, telling the agents, “I think she’s right about that.”

Attorneys on both sides of Dugan’s case have since conceded that an administrative warrant was sufficient to bring the man, whose name is Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, into custody. Nonetheless, Dugan’s attorneys have argued that Dugan’s belief that a judicial warrant was required is relevant to her mindset and motivation.

Cervera told the court she wasn’t well-versed at the time in the difference between those two types of warrants, when it comes to immigration law.

After Dugan directed the agents to the Chief Judge Carl Ashley’s office, Cervera said she eventually escorted the agents to Ashley’s office, since it can be difficult to find.

Cervera said she assumed Dugan would follow alongside them to deal with the issue, but realized once she arrived at the office that Dugan had returned to her own courtroom.

At that point, Cervera said she felt “abandoned” by Dugan.

“She was able to get back to her calendar after pulling me out of my court,” Cervera said. “I don’t like to keep the public waiting.”

‘Judge, you’re GOATed now’

When Cervera returned to her own courtroom, she said a public defender pumped his fist and said, “Go judge!”

Cervera also said another public defender told her, “Judge, you’re GOATed now.”

Cervera said she understood the slang reference to “Greatest of All Time,” but didn’t understand why someone was saying it to her.

After realizing what that attorney had been referencing, Cervera said she was “mortified.”

“Judges shouldn’t be helping defendants evade arrest,” Cervera said.

On the Monday after the Friday morning incident, Cervera ran into Dugan at the courthouse. She said Dugan told her she was “in the doghouse with Carl,” a reference to Chief Judge Carl Ashley, “because I tried to help that guy,” according to Cervera.

During cross-examination, Dugan’s attorneys asked Cervera whether she ever told Dugan she was uncomfortable keeping her robe on in the hallway, and Cervera  admitted she did not.

In response to questions from Dugan’s attorneys, Cervera also said she had texted her sister who is a defense attorney to tell her that ICE was in the building that day. Defense attorneys asked Cervera whether she wanted to “warn” her sister since the presence of ICE could affect her sister’s clients.

“It was more about what was happening in our country at that point in time — that ICE was making these sweeping arrests,” Cervera said. “It had to do more with that.”

During her testimony, Cervera also described the hallway at the center of Dugan’s case in more detail. The jury door in Dugan’s courtroom leads to a “restricted” hallway that eventually feeds into the main public hallway, Cervera recounted.

That restricted hallway is often sealed off by a key, and it’s typically used by jurors as well as court personnel, like clerks, judges and attorneys, Cervera said.