Wisconsin
Judge pauses sentencing to weigh argument surrounding judge’s conviction in immigration case
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday considered whether to throw out a jury’s guilty verdict against former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was convicted of felony obstruction for helping an immigrant evade federal officers.
The case was an early test of how the courts would respond to President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Dugan had been scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, but U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman postponed the proceedings indefinitely to instead hear arguments about whether to overturn her conviction.
Adelman did not rule from the bench and did not indicate when he might issue a decision. Dugan and attorneys for both sides left the courtroom without commenting to reporters.
Former judge’s attorney points to a Virginia case
Dugan’s attorney Steven Biskupic argued that her conviction was invalid and should be overturned. He said that was necessary because a federal appeals court in April overturned a key Virginia immigration case that the judge and prosecutors had cited in the Dugan case.
Biskupic argued that based on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturning that ruling, Dugan was improperly convicted, procedurally, under a certain federal law.
“Our primary argument is this was an invalid theory of conviction,” Biskupic said.
In the Virginia case, an immigrant who was in the country illegally was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and later escaped. He was recaptured and indicted on a charge of obstructing a pending immigration proceeding.
The federal appeals court found that the ICE action did not constitute a “pending proceeding,” as is required under the federal obstruction law.
Dugan’s attorneys argue that she should not have been charged because there was no “pending proceeding” against the immigrant in her courtroom being sought by ICE agents, only a warrant filed for his arrest. The filing of a warrant does not constitute a “proceeding” under the law, Biskupic argued.
Prosecutors countered that the facts in the Virginia case are different and don’t apply to Dugan’s. They also argued that other cases support Dugan’s conviction.
“The court should stick with its ruling,” said Richard Frohling, acting U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Wisconsin.
In response to a question from the judge, he contended that the appeals court was wrong to overturn the Virginia case. The judge also quizzed Frohling on what constitutes a proceeding under the law and how long it lasts.
“It could be a couple minutes, it could be a couple years,” Frohling said. “It all depends on the context.”
Dugan, 67, faces up to five years in prison after a jury convicted her on Dec. 19. But it is unlikely that Dugan would be sentenced to prison. Federal sentencing guidelines generally call for probation for defendants like her who have no criminal history and are convicted of a nonviolent crime.
She resigned from her position as a Milwaukee County circuit judge two weeks after her conviction amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers. She had been a judge for nine years.
Dugan was present for Wednesday’s arguments but did not speak.
The Trump administration brought the case against Dugan as the president pressed ahead with his sweeping immigration crackdown. Trump’s administration and his allies branded Dugan as an activist judge, while Dugan’s attorneys said she was being unfairly targeted and argued, unsuccessfully, that she was immune from being charged because she was a judge.
Dugan’s case marked the first time that a state judge in Wisconsin went to trial on charges of obstructing immigration agents. She was acquitted of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor.
On April 18, 2025, immigration officers went to the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning Eduardo Flores-Ruiz had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.
Dugan confronted agents outside her courtroom and directed them to the chief judge’s office because she told them their administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient grounds to arrest Flores-Ruiz.
After the agents left, she led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. A week later, FBI agents arrested Dugan in the courthouse, leading her outside in handcuffs.
Flores-Ruiz was deported in November.
New York
Ex-NY trooper sentenced to at least 2-1/2 years in prison in chase that killed 11-year-old girl
KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) — A former New York state trooper was sentenced Tuesday to 2½ to 7½ years in prison after he rammed his vehicle into an SUV during a high-speed chase, leading to the death of an 11-year-old girl.
Christopher Baldner, 47, of Catskill, was taken to jail immediately after the sentencing in Ulster County, about 84 miles (136 kilometers) north of New York City.
Baldner was convicted in March of manslaughter in the December 2020 death of 11-year-old Monica Goods, who was in the SUV. He was previously acquitted of murder and reckless endangerment.
According to prosecutors, Baldner rammed the SUV twice on the New York State Thruway, causing it to lose control and flip over. Baldner’s attorneys said the crash occurred after the SUV cut off the trooper as he pulled alongside during the pursuit.
Baldner pulled Monica Good’s father, Tristin Goods, over for speeding on the highway near Kingston just before midnight on Dec. 22, 2020. Goods, his wife and two daughters were heading north from New York City to visit family.
Baldner and Goods argued, and the trooper pepper-sprayed the inside the vehicle. Goods drove off and Baldner pursued.
Baldner’s lawyers said Goods collided with the trooper’s car twice during the pursuit. An accident reconstruction expert for the defense testified that Goods lost control of the SUV when he overcorrected after “a very minor impact.”
Baldner retired in 2022 after almost 20 years with the state police.
Amsterdam
Dutch court agrees to hear Greenpeace lawsuit against energy company
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Judges in Amsterdam handed Greenpeace a preliminary victory on Wednesday in an anti-intimidation court case, rejecting a request from fossil fuel pipeline company Energy Transfer to toss the complaint out.
The Dutch-based environmental organization filed a lawsuit last year to block a $345 million award stemming from protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. A jury in North Dakota found Greenpeace liable for millions in damages to Texas-based Energy Transfer.
In response, Greenpeace brought a case in the Amsterdam District Court, arguing the North Dakota lawsuit was abusive and damaged the organization’s reputation.
Energy Transfer has been engaging in “blatant attempts to silence free speech, erase Indigenous leadership of the Standing Rock movement, and punish solidarity with the ongoing, peaceful resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Greenpeace’s executive director Mads Christensen, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The pipeline company argued the Amsterdam court had no jurisdiction to hear the case, but judges found that as Greenpeace is headquartered in the Dutch capital, the proceedings could move forward.
In February, a North Dakota judge said he will order Greenpeace to pay damages, a figure the environmental group contends it cannot pay. Greenpeace says it will appeal that decision.
Texas
Artist suing FIFA over destruction of whale mural before World Cup
The artist who painted a giant mural on a building in downtown Dallas of life-sized swimming whales has filed a $25 million lawsuit against soccer’s international governing body and others, saying they illegally painted over his work to promote the city’s upcoming World Cup matches.
The artist Wyland says he hand-painted the sprawling mural that covered roughly 17,000 square feet (1,580 square meters) across two of the building’s walls.
The mural stood for nearly three decades before workers began painting over it last month, causing an uproar among residents who admired the mural’s grand scale and message of ocean conservation.
The area’s World Cup organizing committee said in a statement that, in place of Wyland’s mural, new artwork is planned “that captures this current historical moment and reflects the energy, unity, and global spirit surrounding the World Cup 2026.”
It said a portion of Wyland’s mural would be preserved.
Wyland filed suit Monday in U.S District Court in Dallas saying that World Cup organizers, along with the building’s owner and management company, painted over his mural without his consent or even notifying him. He says their actions violated a 1990 federal law passed to protect visual artists from destruction of publicly displayed works.
Wyland is seeking at least $25 million in damages. His lawsuit says world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, and other defendants “hastily and irrevocably destroyed a civic landmark” to promote the World Cup.
“Though FIFA claims they were working to develop art for the host city, in truth, they defaced an historic fixture of the host city,” the artist’s lawsuit says.
A FIFA spokesperson said Tuesday the federation “has no involvement in this whatsoever” and referred a reporter to the tournament’s local organizing committee.
A spokesperson for the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee declined to comment. The committee isn’t named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
A spokesperson for Slate Asset Management, which manages the building where the mural was painted over, said in a statement that local World Cup organizers asked Slate in March to donate the mural space for “a new public art installation.”
“Slate is not being compensated in any way for the use of the wall space and was told by the local groups that Mr. Wyland had been notified,” the management company’s spokesperson said in an email.
Dallas is hosting more World Cup matches than any of the other sites in the event co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with nine matches set to be played at AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Wyland’s Dallas mural, titled “Whaling Wall 82,” was finished in 1999 and is among more than 100 similar murals known as Whaling Walls the artist painted around the world to promote the conservation of ocean life.
An online petition protesting the mural’s destruction and calling for protecting of public artwork in Dallas has received more than 2,600 signatures.
Wyland’s lawsuit alleges violations of the Visual Artists Rights Act, a 1990 federal law that protects artwork of “recognized stature” even if someone else owns the physical artwork.
A judge cited that law in 2018 when he ordered a property owner to pay a group of New York graffiti artists $6.7 million for whitewashing dozens of their spray-painted murals on buildings that once housed a factory in Queens. The ruling was upheld on appeal.
Judge pauses sentencing to weigh argument surrounding judge’s conviction in immigration case
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday considered whether to throw out a jury’s guilty verdict against former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was convicted of felony obstruction for helping an immigrant evade federal officers.
The case was an early test of how the courts would respond to President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Dugan had been scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, but U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman postponed the proceedings indefinitely to instead hear arguments about whether to overturn her conviction.
Adelman did not rule from the bench and did not indicate when he might issue a decision. Dugan and attorneys for both sides left the courtroom without commenting to reporters.
Former judge’s attorney points to a Virginia case
Dugan’s attorney Steven Biskupic argued that her conviction was invalid and should be overturned. He said that was necessary because a federal appeals court in April overturned a key Virginia immigration case that the judge and prosecutors had cited in the Dugan case.
Biskupic argued that based on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturning that ruling, Dugan was improperly convicted, procedurally, under a certain federal law.
“Our primary argument is this was an invalid theory of conviction,” Biskupic said.
In the Virginia case, an immigrant who was in the country illegally was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and later escaped. He was recaptured and indicted on a charge of obstructing a pending immigration proceeding.
The federal appeals court found that the ICE action did not constitute a “pending proceeding,” as is required under the federal obstruction law.
Dugan’s attorneys argue that she should not have been charged because there was no “pending proceeding” against the immigrant in her courtroom being sought by ICE agents, only a warrant filed for his arrest. The filing of a warrant does not constitute a “proceeding” under the law, Biskupic argued.
Prosecutors countered that the facts in the Virginia case are different and don’t apply to Dugan’s. They also argued that other cases support Dugan’s conviction.
“The court should stick with its ruling,” said Richard Frohling, acting U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Wisconsin.
In response to a question from the judge, he contended that the appeals court was wrong to overturn the Virginia case. The judge also quizzed Frohling on what constitutes a proceeding under the law and how long it lasts.
“It could be a couple minutes, it could be a couple years,” Frohling said. “It all depends on the context.”
Dugan, 67, faces up to five years in prison after a jury convicted her on Dec. 19. But it is unlikely that Dugan would be sentenced to prison. Federal sentencing guidelines generally call for probation for defendants like her who have no criminal history and are convicted of a nonviolent crime.
She resigned from her position as a Milwaukee County circuit judge two weeks after her conviction amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers. She had been a judge for nine years.
Dugan was present for Wednesday’s arguments but did not speak.
The Trump administration brought the case against Dugan as the president pressed ahead with his sweeping immigration crackdown. Trump’s administration and his allies branded Dugan as an activist judge, while Dugan’s attorneys said she was being unfairly targeted and argued, unsuccessfully, that she was immune from being charged because she was a judge.
Dugan’s case marked the first time that a state judge in Wisconsin went to trial on charges of obstructing immigration agents. She was acquitted of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor.
On April 18, 2025, immigration officers went to the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning Eduardo Flores-Ruiz had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.
Dugan confronted agents outside her courtroom and directed them to the chief judge’s office because she told them their administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient grounds to arrest Flores-Ruiz.
After the agents left, she led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. A week later, FBI agents arrested Dugan in the courthouse, leading her outside in handcuffs.
Flores-Ruiz was deported in November.
New York
Ex-NY trooper sentenced to at least 2-1/2 years in prison in chase that killed 11-year-old girl
KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) — A former New York state trooper was sentenced Tuesday to 2½ to 7½ years in prison after he rammed his vehicle into an SUV during a high-speed chase, leading to the death of an 11-year-old girl.
Christopher Baldner, 47, of Catskill, was taken to jail immediately after the sentencing in Ulster County, about 84 miles (136 kilometers) north of New York City.
Baldner was convicted in March of manslaughter in the December 2020 death of 11-year-old Monica Goods, who was in the SUV. He was previously acquitted of murder and reckless endangerment.
According to prosecutors, Baldner rammed the SUV twice on the New York State Thruway, causing it to lose control and flip over. Baldner’s attorneys said the crash occurred after the SUV cut off the trooper as he pulled alongside during the pursuit.
Baldner pulled Monica Good’s father, Tristin Goods, over for speeding on the highway near Kingston just before midnight on Dec. 22, 2020. Goods, his wife and two daughters were heading north from New York City to visit family.
Baldner and Goods argued, and the trooper pepper-sprayed the inside the vehicle. Goods drove off and Baldner pursued.
Baldner’s lawyers said Goods collided with the trooper’s car twice during the pursuit. An accident reconstruction expert for the defense testified that Goods lost control of the SUV when he overcorrected after “a very minor impact.”
Baldner retired in 2022 after almost 20 years with the state police.
Amsterdam
Dutch court agrees to hear Greenpeace lawsuit against energy company
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Judges in Amsterdam handed Greenpeace a preliminary victory on Wednesday in an anti-intimidation court case, rejecting a request from fossil fuel pipeline company Energy Transfer to toss the complaint out.
The Dutch-based environmental organization filed a lawsuit last year to block a $345 million award stemming from protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. A jury in North Dakota found Greenpeace liable for millions in damages to Texas-based Energy Transfer.
In response, Greenpeace brought a case in the Amsterdam District Court, arguing the North Dakota lawsuit was abusive and damaged the organization’s reputation.
Energy Transfer has been engaging in “blatant attempts to silence free speech, erase Indigenous leadership of the Standing Rock movement, and punish solidarity with the ongoing, peaceful resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Greenpeace’s executive director Mads Christensen, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The pipeline company argued the Amsterdam court had no jurisdiction to hear the case, but judges found that as Greenpeace is headquartered in the Dutch capital, the proceedings could move forward.
In February, a North Dakota judge said he will order Greenpeace to pay damages, a figure the environmental group contends it cannot pay. Greenpeace says it will appeal that decision.
Texas
Artist suing FIFA over destruction of whale mural before World Cup
The artist who painted a giant mural on a building in downtown Dallas of life-sized swimming whales has filed a $25 million lawsuit against soccer’s international governing body and others, saying they illegally painted over his work to promote the city’s upcoming World Cup matches.
The artist Wyland says he hand-painted the sprawling mural that covered roughly 17,000 square feet (1,580 square meters) across two of the building’s walls.
The mural stood for nearly three decades before workers began painting over it last month, causing an uproar among residents who admired the mural’s grand scale and message of ocean conservation.
The area’s World Cup organizing committee said in a statement that, in place of Wyland’s mural, new artwork is planned “that captures this current historical moment and reflects the energy, unity, and global spirit surrounding the World Cup 2026.”
It said a portion of Wyland’s mural would be preserved.
Wyland filed suit Monday in U.S District Court in Dallas saying that World Cup organizers, along with the building’s owner and management company, painted over his mural without his consent or even notifying him. He says their actions violated a 1990 federal law passed to protect visual artists from destruction of publicly displayed works.
Wyland is seeking at least $25 million in damages. His lawsuit says world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, and other defendants “hastily and irrevocably destroyed a civic landmark” to promote the World Cup.
“Though FIFA claims they were working to develop art for the host city, in truth, they defaced an historic fixture of the host city,” the artist’s lawsuit says.
A FIFA spokesperson said Tuesday the federation “has no involvement in this whatsoever” and referred a reporter to the tournament’s local organizing committee.
A spokesperson for the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee declined to comment. The committee isn’t named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
A spokesperson for Slate Asset Management, which manages the building where the mural was painted over, said in a statement that local World Cup organizers asked Slate in March to donate the mural space for “a new public art installation.”
“Slate is not being compensated in any way for the use of the wall space and was told by the local groups that Mr. Wyland had been notified,” the management company’s spokesperson said in an email.
Dallas is hosting more World Cup matches than any of the other sites in the event co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with nine matches set to be played at AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Wyland’s Dallas mural, titled “Whaling Wall 82,” was finished in 1999 and is among more than 100 similar murals known as Whaling Walls the artist painted around the world to promote the conservation of ocean life.
An online petition protesting the mural’s destruction and calling for protecting of public artwork in Dallas has received more than 2,600 signatures.
Wyland’s lawsuit alleges violations of the Visual Artists Rights Act, a 1990 federal law that protects artwork of “recognized stature” even if someone else owns the physical artwork.
A judge cited that law in 2018 when he ordered a property owner to pay a group of New York graffiti artists $6.7 million for whitewashing dozens of their spray-painted murals on buildings that once housed a factory in Queens. The ruling was upheld on appeal.
