MILWAUKEE (AP) — A colleague of the Milwaukee judge accused of helping a Mexican immigrant evade arrest testified Tuesday that she was shocked by her fellow judge's behavior.
“Judges shouldn’t help defendants evade arrest,” Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Kristela Cervera testified at Hannah Dugan's trial.
The testimony on the second day of trial came after officers involved in the arrest told the jury that Dugan's behavior on April 18 made it more dangerous for them to do their jobs.
Dugan is on trial on charges of obstruction and concealment in connection with the incident. The maximum sentence for obstruction, the more serious charge, is five years in prison, though federal judges have much discretion to go lower.
The highly unusual charges against a sitting judge are an extraordinary consequence of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Dugan's supporters say Trump is looking to make an example of her to blunt judicial opposition to immigration arrests.
Eduardo Flores-Ruiz was scheduled to appear before Dugan on the morning of April 18 on state battery charges. Prosecutors allege that after Dugan learned that federal officers were in the hallway waiting to arrest him, she cleared a path for him to escape by directing the officers to the chief judge’s office and then leading Eduardo-Flores out of her courtroom through a private door.
Cervera testified that she was irritated that Dugan used her as backup during the incident, making her come out of her courtroom into the hallway while still wearing her robe.
Dugan proceeded to angrily confront two officers waiting to arrest Flores-Ruiz, telling them repeatedly that they needed a judicial warrant before sending them to the chief judge’s chambers, Cervera testified. She escorted the officers to the chambers while Dugan returned to her courtroom, she said.
Dugan approached her three days later and said she was “in the doghouse” with the chief judge, saying something to the effect that the chief was upset with her because she had “tried to help that guy," Cervera testified.
When she learned that Dugan had led Flores-Ruiz out the private door, “I was shocked,” Cervera testified.
FBI agent Phillip Jackling testified on Tuesday that he was concerned that his team was divided when Dugan directed agents to speak with the chief judge.
Dugan appeared angry when she approached him in the hallway outside her courtroom, he said. Another member of the arrest team, Customs and Border Protection Supervisory Officer Joseph Zuraw, said Dugan jerked her thumb over her shoulder and told him to “get out" before directing him to the chief judge's chambers.
Four of the arrest team's six members were in the chief judge's chambers or a hallway leading to the chambers when Flores-Ruiz left the courtroom, the agents testified. Zuraw said he remembered thinking: “This is a bad spot we’re in right now. It’s a bad spot because we don’t’ have a decent number of officers to safely make an arrest.”
The team followed him outside the courthouse and had to chase him down through traffic when they could have safely arrested him in the building, they testified.
Dugan’s defense team has suggested that agents could have arrested Flores-Ruiz at any point in the hallway and Dugan shouldn't be blamed for their decision to wait until he was outside.
Defense attorney Steven Biskupic said in opening statements that the judge had no intention of obstructing agents. He said that Dugan was just following a draft courthouse policy that called for court personnel to refer immigration agents looking to make an arrest in the courthouse to supervisors.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced in November that Flores-Ruiz had been deported.
Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report from Madison, Wisconsin.
This courtroom sketch depicts Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan in court, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wis. (Adela Tesnow via AP)
He's done it again. Nikola Jokic will average a triple-double this season.
The Denver star had 15 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists on Wednesday, helping the Nuggets beat the Utah Jazz 130-117.
Jokic now has exactly 660 assists this season. Denver has five games left and if Jokic plays in them all, he would average 10.0 assists — even if he doesn't get another one all season. He's already ensured that he would average double-figures in points and rebounds as well.
Russell Westbrook had four seasons in which he averaged a triple-double. Jokic has now done it twice — he did it last season as well — and Oscar Robertson did it once.
Westbrook, Jokic and Robertson are the only players who have pulled it off.
The Lakers and Denver both clinched playoff spots on Tuesday night. They join Detroit, Boston, New York, Oklahoma City and San Antonio on the list of teams with playoff spots secured.
The postseason (not playoff) teams are set: Milwaukee, Chicago, Washington, Brooklyn and Indiana have all been eliminated from the Eastern Conference race while Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, Utah and Sacramento are out of the Western Conference race.
Portland, Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers are locked into the play-in tournament.
— 76ers 153, Wizards 131: Paul George scores 39, Philly shoots 62% and moves into No. 6 in East.
— Hawks 130, Magic 101: Atlanta improves to 17-2 in last 19 games, while Orlando falls to No. 9 in East.
— Celtics 147, Heat 129: Boston scores 53 in 1st quarter, Jaylen Brown has 43, Jayson Tatum triple-double.
— Knicks 130, Grizzlies 119: New York responds to Josh Hart’s pleas for better play, gets easy win.
— Kings 123, Raptors 115: Bad loss for Toronto, which gets outrebounded 48-32 and falls to No. 7 in the East.
— Pacers 145, Bulls 126: Did anyone in the NBA play any defense on Wednesday night?
— Rockets 119, Bucks 113: Spirited effort from seriously short-handed Bucks, but Houston’s starters outscore Milwaukee’s 101-80.
— Nuggets 130, Jazz 117: Jamal Murray had 37 for Denver, Nikola Jokic added another triple-double and Utah used only eight players in the game.
— Spurs 127, Warriors 113: A 41-point, 18-rebound game for MVP hopeful Victor Wembanyama, and San Antonio improves to 26-2 since Feb. 1.
— Phoenix at Charlotte: Devin Booker had 30 points, 10 assists in Phoenix win over Charlotte last month.
— Minnesota at Detroit: Detroit just keeps rolling, even with Cade Cunningham sidelined.
— L.A. Lakers at Oklahoma City: Matchup of MVP contenders in Lakers' Luka Doncic, Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
— Cleveland at Golden State: Warriors know they’re in West play-in, while Cavs are on brink of clinching East top-4 seed.
— New Orleans at Portland: Pelicans building toward next season, Blazers could host a play-in game.
— San Antonio at L.A. Clippers: Spurs still chasing that No. 1 seed, Clippers know they’ll be in play-in.
— Indiana at Charlotte: A winning record this season is going to get Hornets’ coach Charles Lee some award votes.
— Minnesota at Philadelphia: Massive implications seeding-wise for both teams.
— Atlanta at Brooklyn: Hawks closing in on Southeast Division title, possibly No. 5 seed.
— Chicago at New York: Knicks nearing the 50-win mark yet again.
— Utah at Houston: The Rockets know they can’t afford a slipup in this spot.
— Toronto at Memphis: Raptors need a few wins down the stretch to avoid play-in.
— Boston at Milwaukee: Bucks coach Doc Rivers faces his former team, a day before expected Hall of Fame formal announcement.
— Orlando at Dallas: Magic coach Jamahl Mosley enjoyed a lot of nights when he was on the Mavs’ staff. He desperately needs one of those good nights here.
— New Orleans at Sacramento: A pair of teams building for the future.
Thursday's games on Prime: Minnesota-Detroit and L.A. Lakers-Oklahoma City.
Friday on NBA TV: Chicago-New York.
Oklahoma City (+135) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by Boston (+600), San Antonio (+600), Cleveland (+1000), Denver (+1100) and New York (+1600). Detroit, on its way to the No. 1 seed in the East, is +2500.
— April 10: All 30 teams play their 81st games of the season.
— April 12: All 30 teams play their regular season finales.
— April 14, 15 and 17: NBA play-in tournament dates.
— April 18 and 19: NBA playoff series openers.
— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.
— May 10: NBA draft lottery.
— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.
— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.
— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.
— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).
Sacramento's DeMar DeRozan passed Dominique Wilkins (26,668) for 17th on the NBA's all-time scoring list on Wednesday in Toronto. He's now 22 points behind No. 16 Oscar Robertson (26,710).
No team in NBA history had made 24 3-pointers and lost by more than 11 points. (Most hadn't lost at all; the record for teams with 24 or more 3s was 117-9). That is, until Wednesday, when Miami made 24 3s ... and lost by 18 to Boston.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson, left, is fouled by Philadelphia 76ers center Adem Bona, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) dunks against the Atlanta Hawks in the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Toronto Raptors centre Jakob Poeltl (front) is fouled by Orlando Magic centre Goga Bitadze (back left) as Magic forward Paolo Banchero (right) looks on during first half NBA action in Toronto on Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, right, drives against Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
