Just before the holidays, Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan went on trial for federal charges that she concealed a fugitive from federal law enforcement agents and that she obstructed the federal agents. Unbelievably, the jury came back with a split decision, finding her not guilty of the misdemeanor of concealment but guilty of the felony obstruction. The ICEtapo claimed that Dugan had hidden undocumented immigrant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz from them, even though video showed agents in the hallway with Flores-Ruiz and following him.

The reason for the split verdict was the jury receiving contradictory information from Judge Lynn Adelman. The jury had asked Adelman whether Dugan needed to know the identity of Flores-Ruiz for the misdemeanor count. Adelman said yes. However, when the jury asked the same question regarding the felony count, Adelman said no.

A juror who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity said that made all the difference:

In her opinion, the split verdict hinged on the questions the jurors asked U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman regarding what Dugan needed to know to be found guilty. Adelman gave different answers for the two charges.

“If it came back the same, we all would have found her not guilty, I am sure of it," she said.

Under federal rules, the defense can ask for a new trial under certain circumstances, such as new evidence or faulty directions given to the jury. Dugan's defense team is planning on asking that the guilty verdict be set aside and a new trial, in part, because of the conflicting information Adelman gave to the jury.

It would seem that Adelman knows that he screwed up, based on the subsequent decisions he made:

In an unusual move following the verdict, Adelman did not set a sentencing date or even order a pre-sentencing report, which will take months to complete, allowing the post-verdict appeal to be filed first.

Besides seeking a new trial, Dugan's team is expected to ask Adelman to set aside the jury's verdict on several grounds, including that Dugan should be immune from prosecution for "official acts" as a judge.

It should be noted that Wisconsin Republican legislators are getting their dander worked up and are demanding that Dugan resign immediately, or they will move to impeach her. That would be kind of tricky since they don't have a court finding to hang their proceedings on. But then again, Republicans have never been big on following the law themselves.

H/T Matt Smith for the video