Indicted!!

Judge Hannah Dugan indicted by grand jury on two felony counts.

Whether or not the state can get a guilty conviction is going to be all about whether or not the jury is willing to do their job. The facts are simple, and the defense is not. She literally broke the law in both action and especially in intent. It wasn't that she did anything accidently or wasn't aware of the law. She simply chose to not follow the law out of political principle.

What will her defense be? Most are assuming she will argue some form of "official duty" defense, in that what she did in her court was part of her judicial discretion and therefor a protected action. It's her court, therefor she can order whatever she wants. But there is no real court precedent, much less any written laws allowing judges to decide to cancel hearings so they can help the defendant avoid arrest from another jurisdiction. Yes, a judge can dismiss a case if there is a lack of evidence or some procedural issue. But neither of these situations were valid in this case, and she never actually had the hearing before just letting a suspect leave the court. Even the USSC decision providing the President immunity from criminal prosecution declared that only official duties are exempt from being prosecuted. Cancelling a hearing and escorting a known felon out of the courtroom is not an official duty of a Judge.

If I am the prosecution, I might hammer the fact that this was a man in the court because he was accused of assaulting two people, punching one of them over 30 times. Those victims were in the court, and it was her obligation to hold that hearing for the victims. The fact that she put her personal politics and a known criminal ahead of both the victims and the law should be enough to push a jury over the edge.

That being argued, this will go back to whether or not a Wisconsin jury will convict a judge in a politically charged case. All it takes is one, as they say. Much will depend on how the actual judge (overseeing the prosecution) behaves and what sort of jury instructions that judge provides. It easy to assume that a judge will be on the side of another judge, but that is to be determined. I am not so sure that there are not judges that take offense to these actions, just as most people do. This judge is a disgrace, and she should be held accountable.