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PIERRE, SD (AP) – The Republican Attorney General of South Dakota was indicted Thursday with three felony charges for hitting and killing a man with his car last summer, avoiding more serious felony charges in a case that raised concerns questions about how the state’s top law enforcement official first reported the crash.
Jason Ravnsborg could face up to 30 days in prison and a $ 500 fine for each charge: reckless driving, getting out of lane, and operating a motor vehicle with his phone.
Ravensborg said he was grateful the legal system assumes its innocence – for now – while relatives of the man killed in the crash, Joseph Boever, 55, said they were disappointed but not surprised that the Attorney General only faces misdemeanor charges.
Hyde County Deputy State Attorney Emily Sovell said the evidence simply did not support the felony charges of manslaughter or manslaughter, which could have meant years in prison. She noted that Ravnsborg was not intoxicated and that a manslaughter charge would have required the state to show that it “knowingly and without justification” disregarded a risk. substantial.
“At best, his conduct was negligent, which is insufficient to lay criminal charges in South Dakota,” said Beadle County State Attorney Michael Moore, who helped process the case.
Ravnsborg, who was elected for his first term in 2018, first told authorities he believed he struck a deer or other large animal on his way home to Pierre after a Republican fundraiser late on September 12. He said he searched the unlit area. with a cell phone flashlight and didn’t realize he had killed a man until the next day, when he returned to the crash site on US 14 near Highmore.
Crash investigators said in November Ravnsborg was distracted when he turned onto the shoulder of the highway where Boever was walking. But prosecutors took months longer to make an impeachment decision in the crash, launching an investigation that looked at cellphone GPS data, video footage along the Ravnsborg route and DNA evidence .
Ravnsborg said he was not drinking before the crash and turned his electronics over to investigators. Toxicology report from blood sample taken around 15 hours after crash did not show alcohol in the Ravnsborg system. Investigators said Thursday they had found no evidence he was drinking alcohol in the hours leading up to the crash.
Boever’s family had questioned Ravnsborg’s account and expressed frustration five months have passed pending an impeachment decision.
Nick Nemec, Boever’s cousin, said Thursday he was “disappointed, but not surprised” at the accusations. He called South Dakota’s manslaughter law “weak” and expected his family to take civil action against Ravnsborg.
“I was afraid the charge was something like crossing 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 placed in our legal system continues to operate.”
He added that he couldn’t imagine the “pain and loss” of Boever’s family.
Moore, the state attorney, said the misdemeanor charges were the “right move” but he wasn’t feeling good about it.
“Obviously, when a person dies, we want to know what happened. But we are limited by the investigation and by the facts, ”he said. “And we can’t make someone tell us. I mean, there’s nowhere else to go.
Despite the charge accusing Ravnsborg of being on his cell phone, he was not actually on his device at the time of the crash, authorities said. They said the phone records showed he had used his phone about a minute ago.
Prosecutors determined from cell phone tapes that Ravnsborg was walking near Boever’s body as he walked to the crash scene with his cell phone flashlight. But Sovell noted that it was a “very dark night” with no lights on the road and that there was no evidence that Ravnsborg or the sheriff who responded to the crash saw Boever’s body.
A Wyoming Accident Reconstruction expert and the North Dakota Criminal Investigation Bureau assisted the South Dakota Highway Patrol in the investigation. Such accidents would normally be investigated by the South Dakota Criminal Investigation Bureau, which reports to the Attorney General’s office. The other agencies conducted the investigation to avoid 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; The prosecutor said each of the three offenses was punishable by 30 days in jail and a fine.
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