Judge denies motion to prohibit law enforcement from attending court in Sokolowski court case
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — An Eau Claire County judge has denied a motion seeking to prohibit law enforcement officers from attending court hearings for a man charged with homicide in connection with a crash in Dunn County on December 24, 2024.
Judge Jon M. Theisen issued the order March 13 in connection with the case involving Mark Allen Sokolowski, who has been charged with homicide by the intoxicated use of a motor vehicle that resulted in the death of Dunn County Correctional Officer Jeff Reynolds.
Judge Theisen issued orders that denied the motion to prohibit law enforcement from attending court, along with granting a motion related to media coverage and granting a motion related to the defendant not being held in the Dunn County Jail, according to online court records.
During a hearing before Judge Theisen February 27, Sokolowski’s attorney, Harry Hertel, filed the motion concerning uniformed deputies attending court hearings.
Judge Theisen said he did not believe there was any concern about uniforms and that the public and deputies are welcome to appear in court.
Hertel also spoke to the judge about photographs being taken by media attending the court hearings.
Judge Theisen asked Hertel to draft an order that if the media attends future court hearings, no photographs or recordings of spectators are allowed, although photographs of the court will be allowed.
Hertel also filed a motion with the court asking that Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf recuse herself from the case and asked for an evidentiary hearing about the motion.
Nodolf objected to an evidentiary hearing, but Hertel told the court that the recusal must be resolved before the preliminary hearing is held.
Judge Theisen said he would set an evidentiary hearing regarding District Attorney Nodolf’s recusal from the case.
Hertel objected as well to the cash bail of $75,000 set by Dunn County Circuit Court Judge Luke Wagner on December 26 and said it was out of line with similar cases.
Sokolowski posted $74,600 in cash on January 2 and an additional $400 in cash on January 3.
Nodolf said she did not believe the bail request was unusually high.
Judge Theisen said he would review Hertel’s request about bail.
In addition, Hertel questioned who the state’s client is, but Nodolf argued that since the law enforcement officer was a Dunn County employee, does that mean if any officer who is hurt during duty that their office must recuse themselves from the case?
The judge said he would write a memorandum on where the case will go from here.
Another court hearing has been scheduled on May 7.
State patrol
According to a news release from the Wisconsin State Patrol, the crash happened at 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 24, on U.S. Highway 12 westbound at county Highway E east of Menomonie.
State Troopers and Dunn County sheriff’s deputies responded to the two-vehicle crash, and upon arrival, discovered an overturned vehicle with a deceased male driver and four injured occupants in another vehicle.
The driver of the 2018 Ford Expedition involved in the crash, Mark Sokolowski, suffered non-life threatening injuries and was arrested for homicide by the intoxicated use of a vehicle.
One of the passengers, a 30-year-old woman from Eau Claire, suffered life-threatening injuries.
The woman was later identified in the criminal complaint as Sokolowski’s wife.
Another passenger, a 20-year-old man from Hillsdale, had suffered non-life threatening injuries.
A third passenger, a 23-year-old man from Barron, also suffered non-life threatening injuries.
The deceased driver of the 2013 Subaru Outback was a 56-year-old man from Eau Claire, according to the news release.
The deceased was later identified in a Dunn County Sheriff’s Department Facebook post on December 26 as Jeff Reynolds, who was employed as a correctional officer at the Dunn County Jail.
