A Federal Grand Jury has charged Hannah Dugan on Tuesday, Wisconsin County Judge arrested in April for allegedly hindering the arrest of an undocumented. It is a procedure that allows the Department of Justice to move forward in the judicial process. The case has drawn attention in the United States, where the Executive and Judicial Powers have maintained a pulse for the immigration policy of the Trump administration and due to the due process of without papers. The federal government has used Dugan’s arrest as a symbol that no one is above the law, while the opposition has described the judiciary as a blow.
Federal prosecutors made the accusation against Dugan last April. This Tuesday, the Department of Justice presented to a Federal Grand Jury formed by 20 people the evidence in their power so that they determine if there is enough probable cause to carry out a trial. These have determined that there are, which keeps the criminal process against the judge alive.
Dugan has responded through his lawyers to the decision of the grand jury maintaining his innocence and affirming that he will wait for the process to “claim” his name. The Togada will have her first audience this Thursday.
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court temporarily separated Dugan from his position in what the process is settled. He is accused of the crime of hiding a person to avoid his arrest and to hinder a judicial procedure. The punishment against him can be up to six years in prison.
Dugan’s clash with federal authorities was recorded on April 18. The judge then had in front of her to Eduardo Flores Ruiz, an undocumented Mexican who was in court celebrating a view of a case of domestic violence that faces since March. Flores Ruiz was free on bail. The records indicate that it was deported in 2013, but was again in the United States without any authority having allowed its return.
Several federal agents waited that morning to Flores Ruiz outside the local court to stop and deport it. Dugan, they assure the judicial documents, was notified by one of its employees of the presence of the security forces. This bothered the judge, who described the situation as “absurd” and abroncted the police for their presence in the judicial enclosure. The Department of Justice stressed the lack of collaboration of the judge and another local magistrate in the arrest of Flores Ruiz. Dugan asked the authorities to talk to the president of the court and asked them to leave their room.
After that, the judge escorted Flores Ruiz and her lawyer for a door reserved for jury and judicial employees that led to the outside of the building. Some agents saw the undocumented in the distance and chased him on foot around the courts. That was the episode that has made Dugan an example to follow for some and a criminal for others. The last word will be given in a trial still without date.
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