Shawano County’s clerk of court will face a court hearing of her own Monday to determine what action should be taken on a petition for her removal from office.
A petition filed by a Bonduel couple last month alleges Susan Krueger used her position in an attempt to influence the sentencing of a personal acquaintance in a Brown County felony case.
Krueger told the Leader this week she would reserve any comment on the matter for Monday’s hearing. However, she did file an answer to the petition earlier this month denying the allegation.
Krueger wrote a letter on Shawano County Clerk of Court letterhead in May to Brown County Circuit Court Judge Kendall Kelley regarding Eric Hodkiewicz, 35, of Shawano. Court documents indicate the letter was received and put into the court file June 20, the day Hodkiewicz was sentenced.
Hodkiewicz had been found guilty after a jury trial in March of nine felony counts, including stalking, unlawful use of a phone to threaten, burglary, substantial battery with intent to do bodily harm, strangulation and suffocation, two counts of disorderly conduct, criminal damage to property and bail jumping.
Hodkiewicz was sentenced to eight years in prison and 13 years of extended supervision, with some of the sentences on individual counts running consecutively, according to court records.
Krueger’s May 13 letter to the Brown County court, written “on both a personal and professional level,” defended Hodkiewicz as someone incapable of “the alleged violence” against the victim in the case.
Krueger wrote that Hodkiewicz was a close friend of her son. She said she has known Hodkiewicz since he was in high school.
Krueger went on to say in the letter that the court system failed in this case.
“The state abuses its authority by overcharging, and using it as leverage for potential plea bargaining,” she wrote. “I’ve seen victims file report after report with law enforcement to bolster their stories in restraining order, custody and criminal cases, making unsubstantiated testimony more believable. Often it is the better ‘liar’ not ‘lawyer’ that can win a case before a judge or jury for the state or defense.”
Krueger went on to defend Hodkiewicz’s character and asked the court not to include prison as part of the sentence.
David and Karen Patza, who are relatives of the victim, filed a complaint in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court on Nov. 25 asking for Krueger’s removal from office.
In addition to the letter to the Brown County court, the complaint alleges Krueger used her government email account in January 2012 and February 2013 to contact Department of Corrections employees in an attempt to influence Hodkiewicz’s probation agent and influence the DOC’s treatment of Hodkiewicz.
The same day that complaint was received, Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court Judges James Habeck and William Kussel Jr. signed an administrative order barring Krueger from having any contact with or access to any court file having to do with the victim or her family.
Those files were put into the custody of other staff in the clerk of court’s office.
Habeck and Kussel notified Krueger Dec. 3 that a hearing had been scheduled regarding the complaint.
“This complaint alleges conduct that could result in removal from office for cause,” the notice states.
Habeck also wrote a Dec. 5 memo to the Patzas informing them of the hearing and what would occur.
“An opinion as to what action should be taken now would be similar to comments often received by a court that are considered in sentencing, where the goal is not establishing what happened, but instead focuses on what consequences or strategy should be used,” Habeck wrote.
The hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday.
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