Over the past few days, we have followed the tale of Judge Dugan and her attempt to shield a defendant from getting arrested as he was an illegal. Today, an actual attorney, not a Twitter 'lol'yer broke down the case against Judge Dugan and it looks very bad for her.
ok, fwiw, here's my take on the federal criminal complaint against Milwaukee state Judge Dugan
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 28, 2025
(you can find the full complaint here https://t.co/YWFTfF8Wdj)
she's charged with one count of obstruction of a proceeding before a US dept or agency (18 USC 1505) and one count of concealing person from arrest (18 USC 1071)
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 28, 2025
so quick background - this is not an indictment. it's a criminal complaint sworn to by a federal officer. in this case it's some white collar crimes agent at the FBI. I guess he fits the bill b/c he has been involved in corruption of public officials.
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 28, 2025
of course 😏 all of the… pic.twitter.com/9AP6HjnRg5
spoiler alert: the complaint sufficiently alleges actions that made the judge guilty of both counts
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 28, 2025
(will go through in a moment)
It doesn't look good for her.
this is actually kind of insane. the judge learns there are agents there to make an arrest, and she deems their administrative warrant (vs a judicial warrant) invalid and tells them to leave and orders them to report to the Chief Jude's office pic.twitter.com/PgdHHxDHp2
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 28, 2025
Then agents then follow her directive and get on a call with the Chief Judge, who says they can arrest in public areas, e.g., the hallway. pic.twitter.com/3mJEIz1PKx
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 28, 2025
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So, she makes the agents get on a call with the Chief Judge, they do that and prepare to follow the directions they were given, and she still doesn't cooperate with them.
So then, instead of publicly calling the case, the parties confer off the record, while the guy is sitting in the jury box (e.g., not sitting the audience), which, as noted elsewhere, is unusual.
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 28, 2025
THEN when the defense attorney and the guy go to exit the courtroom the Judge… pic.twitter.com/OEHL3ILHLA
The actual witnesses ready to testify against this guy were in the audience waiting, the judge ignored them and let the guy slip out the side door. This is so egregious.
The Judge then escorts the defense attorney and the guy out the "jury door" which leads to a non-public area of the courthouse and is generally not used by defendants or their attorneys. I MEAN COME ON. pic.twitter.com/EyFJDkDkvh
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 28, 2025
Even crazier is that the off the record conversation to adjourn the guy's case to another day did not include the state's attorney on the matter, who was present in the courtroom! pic.twitter.com/5vMJHkghxC
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 28, 2025
Notably, the complaint includes several different individuals' first-hand accounts of what happened.
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 28, 2025
No attorney jokes ok 😉 pic.twitter.com/wp7ZkqQ6Tl
I honestly don't know what valid defense this judge may have. have never dealt with the specific criminal statutes she's been charged with, so perhaps there is something.
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 28, 2025
But, as alleged, the conduct by this judge is pretty wild and at a minimum, should result in her removal…
Basically, she should be found guilty and she should be removed from the bench.
There are only a handful of legal opinions I listen to on here or think are valid/honest…
— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) April 28, 2025
This is one of them-> https://t.co/HOoT13OQIq
To wrap up, she's very trustworthy and this Judge is in a whole heap of trouble.
This actually might be worse than I expected. Not sure how she can explain this away. https://t.co/oLEiJLFbVS pic.twitter.com/ArAhHseLLG
— Phiophill (@Phiophills) April 28, 2025
Spoiler alert ... she can't.