It's been over three months since South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg struck and killed Joseph Boever, a Hyde County resident, after the elected official drove off the highway and on to the shoulder where Boever was walking.
Via the Watertown Public Opinion, Steve Grove reports for the Associated Press in Prosecutors waiting on debris testing in AG crash:
A team of prosecutors is waiting for testing results on a piece of debris that may show where the South Dakota Attorney General's car was when he struck and killed a man over three months ago, a prosecutor said Monday.
A decision on whether to charge Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg in the Sept. 12 crash has been delayed for months, prompting criticism from Gov. Kristi Noem. The Department of Public Safety, which oversaw the investigation, has reported it handed over all its findings to prosecutors, led by Hyde County deputy state's attorney Emily Sovell.
But Crystal Johnson, the Minnehaha County state's attorney who is assisting Sovell, said in an email to The Associated Press that she did not have a time frame for the results of additional testing on an “(unusual) item of debris that was in the middle of the accident scene." She said it could give information on where Ravnsborg's car was when it struck 55-year-old Joseph Boever, a Hyde County resident.
Sovell did not immediately reply to a request for comment and has not spoken publicly about the case.
Secretary of Public Safety Craig Price, who led the crash investigation, has said Ravnsborg was distracted before he drove onto the shoulder of a darkened stretch of highway, but has not provided details on what the distraction was. Boever was walking on the side of the road and displaying some type of light when Ravnsborg’s 2011 Ford Taurus hit him, according to Price. . . .
Read the rest at the Public Opinion.
Last week we posted in Governor Kristi Noem takes off her positive pants, given pace of Ravnsborg investigation:
The governor isn't happy that South Dakotans still don't know if their attorney general will be charged criminally for killing a pedestrian while driving through Highmore more than 100 days ago.
Gov. Kristi Noem this week expressed her displeasure with the failure of the Hyde County State's Attorney's Office to determine whether South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg should be indicted after he struck and killed 55-year-old Joe Boever on the evening of Sept. 12.
"I share South Dakotans' frustration about the amount of time that has taken," she said in a statement to the Argus Leader. "To have more than 100 days go by without resolution on this is a disservice to the victim's family."
Noem promised transparency into the incident, and she has held press conferences to update the public on the status of the investigation. But weeks have gone by since her secretary of Public Safety, Craig Price, turned his investigation and reports over to the group of states attorneys who will decide whether charges should be filed.
Tony Mangan, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, confirmed Wednesday that his department finished its role in investigating the matter weeks ago. . . .
We look forward to looking more about that “(unusual) item of debris that was in the middle of the accident scene."
Update: Forum News Service South Dakota News Director Jeremy Fugelberg counted the days since Boever's death"
It's been 107 days since SD AG Jason Ravnsborg struck and killed a man with his car. No charges yet filed: "A team of prosecutors is waiting for testing results on a piece of debris that may show where the South Dakota Attorney General's car was when he struck and killed a man" https://t.co/eBKTmBaj9c
— Jeremy Fugleberg (@jayfug) December 28, 2020
[end update]
Photo: The victim and the distracted driver.
If you like Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.
Venmo contributions: @Sally-Sorensen-6
Comments