South Dakota’s AG is charged with three offenses in fatal accidents

PIERRE, SD (AP) – The Republican Attorney General of South Dakota is charged Thursday with three offenses for hitting and killing a man with his car last summer, and avoiding more serious charges in a case that leaves questions arose about how the state’s highest law enforcement officer first reported the crash.

Jason Ravnsborg could face up to 30 days in prison and a fine of up to $ 500 on each charge: reckless driving, driving off his lane and driving a motor vehicle while on his phone.

Ravensborg said he was grateful the justice system was accepting his innocence – while relatives of the man killed during the clash, 55-year-old Joseph Boever, said they were disappointed but not surprised that the attorney general was just standing trial. On charges of misconduct. .

Hyde County Deputy State Attorney Emily Sovell said the evidence simply did not support the charges of manslaughter or manslaughter, which could mean years in prison. She noted Ravnsborg was not intoxicated, and that a charge of manslaughter would require the state to show that he was “consciously and unjustifiably” disregarding a material risk.

“His conduct was at most negligent, which is insufficient to file criminal charges in South Dakota,” Beadle County Secretary Michael Moore said.

Ravnsborg, who was elected to his first term in 2018, initially told authorities he thought he had hit a deer or another large animal when he drove from a Republican fundraiser to Pierre late on September 12th. He said he searched the unlit area with a cellphone flashlight and did not realize he had killed a man until the next day when he returned to the crash scene on US 14 near Highmore.

Collision investigators said Ravnsborg was distracted in November when he turned on the shoulder of the highway where Boever was walking. But prosecutors took months to make a charge decision in the crash, with an investigation considering the GPS data from cell phones, video footage along Ravnsborg’s route and DNA evidence.

Ravnsborg said he had not drunk before the crash, and handed over his electronic devices to investigators. In a toxicological report of a blood sample taken about 15 hours after the accident, no alcohol was shown in Ravnsborg’s system. Investigators said Thursday they found no evidence that he had been drinking alcohol in the hours before the crash.

Boever’s family questioned Ravnsborg’s report and expressed frustration as five months elapsed while awaiting a indictment.

Nick Nemec, Boever’s cousin, said on Thursday he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the charges. He called the homicide law in South Dakota ‘weak’ and that he expected his family to take civil action against Ravnsborg.

“I was afraid the charge would be something in the order of the white line,” Nemec said. “And that’s exactly what the charge was.”

Ravnsborg said in a statement: “I appreciate more than ever that the presumption of innocence in our legal system still works.”

He added that he could not imagine the ‘pain and loss’ of Boever’s family.

Moore, the state’s attorney, said the charges of crimes are the ‘right decision’, but that he does not feel good about it.

‘It’s clear that when someone dies, we want to know what happened. But we are limited by the investigation and by the facts, ”he said. “And we can not force anyone to tell us. I mean, there’s just nowhere else to go. ‘

Despite the charge Ravnsborg accused of being on his cell phone, he was not actually on his device at the time of the crash, authorities said. They said phone records show he had used his phone about one minute before.

Prosecutors determined from cellphone recordings that Ravnsborg was walking near Boever’s body while he was walking the crash scene with his cellphone flash. But Sovell noted that it was a ‘very dark night’ with no lighting on the road and that there was no evidence that Ravnsborg or the sheriff who responded to the accident saw Boever’s body.

An accident reconstruction expert from Wyoming and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation assisted the South Dakota Highway Patrol in the investigation. Such accidents will usually be investigated by the South Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which provides answers at the Attorney General’s office. The other agencies undertook the investigation to prevent a conflict of interest.

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This story has been corrected to remove an erroneous mention that Ravnsborg could face up to a year in prison. prosecutor said each of the three offenses is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine.

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