Federal prosecutors rested after a day of testimony that traced the movements and decisions inside Milwaukee County courthouse rooms and hallways on April 18, with court staff, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and a court reporter describing how ICE agents, case scheduling and unusual courtroom directions intersected during the events at issue.
Day three opened with Milwaukee County District Court Administrator Stephanie Garbo on the stand describing a call from Chief Judge Carl Ashley about ICE presence that day and her observation of two men sitting on a bench who she identified as the agents. Garbo said Chief Judge Ashley did not ask her to check for a warrant or to bring the agents to his office and that she set up a phone call between the agent and Ashley after Judge Cervera and an agent visited Ashley’s office. Garbo called the interaction “professional” and told the court she believed no formal policy was in place on April 18.
Chief Judge Carl Ashley testified next and confirmed he issued a press release on April 6 and had “expressed concerns that he took seriously.” Ashley said his personal views could not give him authority to block a lawful arrest in a public area and that he did not tell ICE they could not make arrests in public hallways. He provided a draft policy that instructed staff what to say if ICE sought non-public access, including the line, “I do not consent, but because I have no other choice at this time, I will not interfere with your order.”
Ashley also referenced a similar San Francisco County policy and warned that enforcement could have a “chilling effect on access to justice” and cause people to “perceive courthouses as unsafe due to fear of detention.” Jurors were shown a binder containing those materials, including the April 6 press release, as part of the government’s effort to document how the courthouse leadership viewed ICE activity. The testimony aimed to show both procedural awareness and limits on what judges and staff believed they could lawfully do.
District Attorney Melissa Buss testified she was assigned to Judge Dugan’s courtroom that morning and said she prefers to call sensitive cases on the record when victims are present. Buss said a clerk mentioned ICE being in the courthouse, after which she watched Judge Dugan leave the courtroom and motion Flores-Ruiz and his attorney toward the jury door. Buss learned later the matter was handled off the record and that she was not told Flores-Ruiz’s next court date, leaving victims without an update that morning.
Dugan’s court clerk, Alan Freed, described being “upset” and “a little bit outraged” when he heard “one or more” public defenders say ICE was in the building and testified that he told Dugan about the agents before she went into her chambers. Freed said he later heard Dugan confronting the agents in a hallway, and he recalled calling a man he saw a “fascist” as he witnessed people move through the jury door. He said he had never before seen a criminal defendant go through a jury door in thousands of cases.
The prosecution played audio in which Judge Dugan is recorded saying “down the stairs,” and Freed testified an employee offered to “show them” and that Dugan replied, “I’ll do it…I’ll get the heat,” while another employee said she’d rather get in trouble. Video shown to the court captured Dugan, Flores-Ruiz and his counsel at the jury door, and Freed said Flores-Ruiz’s case was moved ahead of another after staff learned ICE was in the public hallway. Freed also testified he knew ICE had an administrative warrant to arrest Flores-Ruiz but could not recall precisely when he learned that fact.
Victim witness advocate Brittney Ewing described meeting with victims who appeared “uncomfortable” when Flores-Ruiz entered the courtroom and said they were “upset” and “confused” after being told the case had been adjourned. Public defender Mercedes de la Rosa testified she was told by Judge Dugan to leave and come back, walked through the jury door into an unfamiliar hallway, and later said she “felt scared” and “freaked out” by the situation as Flores-Ruiz left the building and was taken into ICE custody.
Defense and private attorneys who routinely appear before Judge Dugan testified they had never seen these maneuvers in their decades of practice. Walter Piel, a lawyer with a long record before Dugan, said he saw the judge return in robes from the public hallway and that she asked him about victims, a common courtroom practice, but also did things he’d never observed before like directing counsel to take a client out and return later. Court reporter Joan Butz told jurors that whether a case is on the record matters for her notes and said it “pisses her off” that ICE was in the hallway; she corroborated that Dugan led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney down a public corridor.
After Butz’s testimony the prosecution rested. Defense counsel announced plans to call four witnesses the following day and said Judge Dugan will not testify. Presiding U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman told jurors they’d receive the case “before too long” and said proceedings were “making good progress.” The trial is scheduled to continue with defense witnesses and closing arguments are expected soon.
