PIERRE, SD – South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg pleaded not guilty in an initial court hearing to three charges he faces for beating and killing a man with his car last year.
The Republican attorney general did not appear at the courthouse in Pierre, South Dakota, but his attorney Tim Rensch made the plea on his behalf. The prosecutor noted that it is typical for defendants to plead not guilty at this stage in the trial before defense attorneys get a chance to look at the evidence.
Apart from the charges of misconduct, the state’s leading law enforcement officer is facing his resignation from Republican Gov. Kristi Noem and law enforcement groups.
But Ravnsborg has said he will not retire and for the time being maintains that he was guilty of breaking the law on the night of September 12 when he hit a man on the shoulder of a rural highway. However, he could face up to 30 days in prison and a fine of up to $ 500 on each charge of misdemeanor: reckless driving, driving off his lane and driving a motor vehicle while on his phone. Although prosecutors said he did not use his phone during the crash, he used it while driving about one minute before the crash occurred.
Rensch requested 60 days to look at the evidence in the case, to which the judge and prosecutors agreed.
“In some cases there is a mountain of discovery,” Rensch told the judge. “In this case, there’s a mountain range of discovery.”
He declined to comment further to reporters.
Ravnsborg, who was elected to his first term in 2018, initially told authorities he thought he had hit a deer or other large animal when driving from a Republican fundraiser to Pierre. He said he searched the unlit area with a cellphone flashlight and did not realize he had killed a man – 55-year-old Joseph Boever – until the next day when he returned to the crash scene on US 14 near Highmore in South Dakota. .
After a five-month investigation, prosecutors said they still had questions about the accident, but that they could no longer file serious criminal charges such as manslaughter or manslaughter, which could mean years in prison.
Boever’s family members, including his widow Jenny Boever and his mother, traveled to Pierre for the trial, which lasted less than ten minutes. But on Friday, the normally sleepy courthouse was full of lawyers, reporters and family members of Boever. His widow plans to file a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Ravnsborg over the death of her deceased husband.
“Jenny, the widow, just wants to be present,” said Boever’s cousin Nick Nemec, who outspokenly questioned the attorney general’s report on the crash.
Nemec called Ravnsborg’s decision not to plead guilty at the start of the trial “worrying”.
“Of course he was out of his job. The slip marks on highway 14 are still visible, “he said. “I think he’s just as guilty as he can be.”
Hyde County Deputy Attorney Emily Sovell, who is the chief prosecutor, said “it is not at all uncommon” that defendants initially plead not guilty before looking at the evidence.
Prosecutors declined to comment further on the details of the crash, noting that they are under a gag order from retired Judge John Brown, the Sixth Circle.
Brown made the order last month at the request of the attorney general after Noem released videos of investigators questioning Ravnsborg twice after the accident. Detectives were shocked that Ravnsborg did not realize he had hit a man and told him that Boever’s face burst through his windshield and that Boever’s glasses were found in his Ford Taurus after the accident.
Housemates began a process of indictment against the attorney general last month, but took a step back after the judge’s order.
Lawmakers have said they will consider whether Ravnsborg should be charged after the criminal case is concluded.