An Ogle County judge set a Feb. 17 trial for an animal rights activist accused of falsely reporting a shooting at a rodeo near Rochelle.

Jodie Wiederkehr of Chicago is charged with two counts of falsely reporting an offense, a Class 4 felony, and one count of harassment by telephone, a misdemeanor. She pleaded not guilty at a preliminary hearing Aug. 20.

[ Animal rights advocate protesting Ogle County rodeo pleads not guilty to false reporting charges ]

Wiederkehr is the campaign director of Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, which has been advocating for the closure of a rodeo holding steer-tailing events in the county. SHARK has provided officials with videos of the events, reviewed by Shaw Local, that show participants beating animals, and events resulting in animal injuries such as severed tails and broken legs.

The charges against Wiederkehr stem from May 25, when prosecutors allege that Wiederkehr repeatedly called 911 and told an Ogle County dispatcher that she saw someone get shot at 16989 Ritchie Road, south of Rochelle, when she knew what she was telling them was not true, Ogle County State’s Attorney Mike Rock said in a previous interview with Shaw Local.

That property on Ritchie Road is the location of the rodeo, Rancho La Esperanza, that SHARK and several Ogle County residents have been urging officials to shut down, according to county records.

Wiederkehr’s attorneys have argued that the context is important, and the intent of those calls was to report animal cruelty.

The rodeo has continued to operate under a permanent special-use permit issued by the county, records show. The most recent event was held Oct. 18.

[ Northern Illinois counties struggle to regulate Mexican-style rodeos, steer-tailing events in their area ]

Wiederkehr and one of her attorneys, Brad Thomson of Chicago, appeared via Zoom before Ogle County Associate Judge Anthony Peska on Wednesday for a status hearing. She’s also being represented by Chris Carraway of Colorado, but he was not present.

At the hearing, Thomson told Peska that he’d been discussing the possibility of a plea agreement with the state, but “it appears that we will be going to trial” and requested a date be set.

Ogle County Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Leiston disagreed with the request.

On Oct. 1, Wiederkehr’s attorneys filed a motion requesting an extensive list of discovery items from the state, including all documents, reports and dispatch calls from May 1 to June 17 concerning the rodeo, among several other items.

Leiston said he had a written objection to the motion, which he had not yet filed because he was planning to give a copy of it to Thomson at Wednesday’s hearing, but he did not appear in person.

The objection “contains issues that need to be addressed before a trial,” Leiston said.

Thomson said he understands the state having an issue with the motion, but “would appreciate getting a trial date set sooner rather than later.”

“It is extraordinarily rare for me to set a trial date when you’re not here to ask for it in person,” Peska said.

But he agreed to set the date under the condition that all parties appear before the court in person.

Wiederkehr’s next court appearance is set for 1 p.m. Feb. 4. At that hearing, Peska will hear attorneys’ arguments related to the motion filed by the defense.

Peska also set Wiederkehr’s final pretrial hearing for 9 a.m. Feb. 13, and the trial will be at 9 a.m. Feb. 17.