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South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg lied to investigators and abused his power after hitting and killing a pedestrian, prosecutors argued Tuesday at the opening of a dismissal trial that could dismiss him from office.
Ravnsborg’s lawyers replied that such an action would unduly violate the will of the voters for what it has claimed as an accident.
Ravnsborg, a Republican who recently announced he would not seek a second term, faces two charges in the state’s first impeachment trial. Criminal investigators, some lawmakers and the victim’s family have questioned Ravnsborg’s veracity about his actions after the 2020 crash. Senators can also vote on whether Ravnsborg should be banned from holding a future post.
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg faces impeachment trial after hitting and killing a pedestrian in 2020. (Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In any case, the result of a procedure that is expected to last two days will close a chapter that has altered state policy, pitting Republican Gov. Kristi Noem against Ravnsborg and some of her own party who opposed her aggressive pursuit. of his dismissal.
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“He absolutely saw the man who hit him in the aftermath,” said Alexis Tracy, Clay County’s state attorney who is leading the prosecution.
Prosecutors also told senators that Ravnsborg had used his title “to set the tone and gain influence” after the crash, though he allegedly made “blatant mistakes and lies” to the crash investigators. The prosecution reproduced a montage of Ravnsborg audio clips referring to himself as the Attorney General.
When questioned by investigators about the crash, prosecutors’ attorneys investigated Ravnsborg’s alleged misstatement during the aftermath of the crash, including that he never drove excessively above the speed limit, which had been contacted Boever’s family to offer their condolences and that he had not been sailing. your phone during your trip home.
Ravnsborg has maintained that he did nothing wrong and presented the impeachment trial as an opportunity to clarify. He resolved the criminal case last year by declaring that he did not oppose a couple of traffic offenses, such as making an illegal lane change and using a telephone while driving, and was fined by a judge.
The attorney general’s defense focused its arguments on the implications of impeachment during initial statements Tuesday, and asked lawmakers to consider the implications of its decision on the role of the state government. Ravnsborg called Ross Garber, a law analyst and law professor at Tulane University who specializes in impeachment proceedings.
Ravnsborg claims he did not know he hit a man until he returned to the scene the next morning. (Photo AP / Dirk Lammers, file)
“This is undoing the will of the voters,” Garber told the Senate. “Don’t get me wrong, this is what you’re considering doing.”
Ravnsborg was driving home after a political fundraiser following the darkness of September 12, 2020, on a state highway in central South Dakota, when his car collided with “something,” according to a transcript of his 911 call back. He later said it could have been a deer or other animal.
Ravnsborg said neither he nor the county sheriff who arrived at the scene knew he had beaten and killed a man, Joseph Boever, 55, until Ravnsborg returned to the scene the next morning.
Investigators said they doubted some of Ravnsborg’s statements. In a previous testimony to lawmakers, they said they determined that the attorney general had passed right in front of Boever’s body and the flashlight Boever was carrying, still lit the next morning, as he looked around the scene at night. the accident.
There’s no way out without seeing this, ”Arnie Rummel, a North Dakota Criminal Investigation Bureau officer who led the criminal investigation, said Tuesday.
Impeachment prosecutors set a chronology of the night on Tuesday and analyzed the seconds before and after the crash. They raised the fact that accident investigators who examined the Ravnsborg mobile phone found limited GPS data within minutes of the attorney general walking to the crash site.
Cassidy Halseth, an officer in the North Dakota Criminal Investigation Bureau who examined Ravnsborg cell phones, said she could not explain why the phone did not contain accurate GPS data during those minutes, but that she had not found it. no indication that Ravnsborg had manipulated the phone.
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However, prosecutors also raised an exchange that Ravnsborg had with one of its staff members three days after the crash, after he had sent his phones to investigators about the crash. Ravnsborg asked an agent from the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation about what would happen during forensic examinations of his cell phones, even though the agency was supposed not to be involved in the investigation to avoid conflicts of interest. ‘interests.
“We weren’t supposed to be involved,” now-retired agent Brent Gromer said as he described why the exchange made him uncomfortable. Investigators identified what they believed to be false statements in Ravnsborg’s statements, such as when he said he turned around at the scene of the crash and “saw it” before quickly correcting himself and saying, “Not the I saw”. And they claimed that Boever’s face had passed through the Ravnsborg windshield because his glasses were in the car.
On Tuesday, Ravnsborg’s defense also referred to the decision of criminal prosecutors to charge him only with traffic offenses. The defense said Ravnsborg had fully cooperated during the investigation and considered his statements erroneous due to human error rather than any malicious intent. His defense attorney said Ravnsborg was willing to test the polygraph, but criminal investigators determined it would not have been effective to verify the attorney general’s veracity.
Ravnsborg claims that Governor Kristi Noem pushed for her removal because she had investigated ethics complaints against Noem. (Photo by AP / John Raoux)
The GOP-controlled Senate, which has 32 Republican members and three Democrats, will hear impeachment prosecutors, defense attorneys, accident investigators and former Ravnsborg staff members.
It will take 24 senators, or two-thirds of the 35 members of the body, to convict Ravnsborg of either of the two articles of impeachment: committing a crime that resulted in death and embezzlement.
The latter alleges that he deceived investigators and abused the power of his office. Investigators said Ravnsborg asked an agent with the state’s Criminal Investigation Division what investigators could find out about the crash on his cell phone. He said he was just looking for real information.
Noem demanded Ravnsborg’s resignation shortly after the crash and later pressured lawmakers to demand his removal. Noem also publicly supported Ravnsborg’s predecessor, Republican Marty Jackley, for election as a replacement. If Ravnsborg is forced to leave, the governor will appoint an interim to hold office until the new Attorney General elected in November is sworn in.
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Ravnsborg has argued that the governor, who has positioned himself for a possible White House bid in 2024, pushed for his removal in part because he had investigated ethics complaints against Noem.
Ravnsborg in September agreed to an undisclosed deal with Boever’s widow.