Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was found guilty of obstructing federal agents seeking to make an immigration arrest outside her courtroom

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The “top levels of government” were involved in bringing charges against a Wisconsin judge accused of helping a Mexican immigrant evade federal authorities, her defense attorney told jurors during closing arguments at her trial Thursday in an attempt to blunt prosecutors’ arguments that the judge acted inappropriately.

On day four of the federal trial, Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan’s defense is set to begin presenting its case, aiming to rebut prosecutors’ claims that she obstructed federal agents.

Both sides delivered closing arguments in the federal obstruction trial of Hannah Dugan, painting the Milwaukee judge in starkly different ways.

Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan was found guilty of a felony charge of obstruction by a jury Thursday in a case involving the judge’s actions related to a defendant in her court that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were attempting to arrest outside of the courtroom.

Follow live, in-court updates from Day 3 of the federal trial of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, who is accused of helping an undocumented immigrant evade ICE arrest.

Prosecutors played audio recordings to show jurors that a Wisconsin judge knew what was at stake when she directed an immigrant to a private door while federal agents were in the courthouse to arrest him.