PIERRE, SD – South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg pleaded not guilty at an initial hearing on Friday on three counts of misdemeanor he faces for assaulting and killing a man with his car last summer.
The Republican attorney general did not appear in Pierre, South Dakota’s courtroom, but his attorney Tim Rensch made the defense on his behalf. The prosecutor noted that it is common for defendants to plead not guilty at this point in the trial, before defense lawyers have a chance to examine the evidence.
In addition to the misdemeanor charges, the state’s chief police officer is facing resignations from Republican Governor Kristi Noem and law enforcement groups.
But Ravnsborg said he will not resign and – for the time being – says he is not guilty of breaking the law on the night of September 12, when he assaulted a man who was walking on the side of a rural road. However, he faces up to 30 days in prison and a fine of up to $ 500 on each misdemeanor charge: driving carelessly, leaving his lane and driving a motor vehicle while on the phone. Although prosecutors said he was not using his phone at the time of the accident, he used it while driving about a minute before the accident.
Rensch requested 60 days to examine the evidence in the case, with which the judge and prosecutors agreed.
“In some cases, there is a mountain of discovery,” Rensch told the judge. “In this case, there is an undiscovered mountain range.”
He declined to comment further with reporters.
Ravnsborg, who was elected to his first term in 2018, initially told authorities that he thought he had hit a deer or other large animal while driving back to Pierre after a Republican fundraiser. He said he searched the unlit area with a cell phone flashlight and did not realize that he killed a man – Joseph Boever, 55 – until the next day when he returned to the crash site on US 14 near Highmore in South Dakota.
After an investigation that spanned five months, prosecutors said they still had doubts about the accident, but were unable to file more serious criminal cases, such as vehicular homicide 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 hearing, which lasted less than 10 minutes. But for several minutes on Friday, the normally sleepy courtroom was packed with lawyers, reporters and members of Boever’s family. His widow is planning to file a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Ravnsborg for the death of her late husband.
“Jenny, the widow, just wants to make a presence,” said Boever’s cousin, Nick Nemec, who openly questioned the attorney general’s account of the accident.
Nemec called Ravnsborg’s decision not to plead guilty at the start of the trial “worrying”.
“He was obviously off track. The skid marks on Highway 14 are still visible, ”he said. “I think he is as guilty as he can be.”
Emily Sovell, Hyde County’s assistant district attorney who is the chief prosecutor, said it was “not uncommon” for defendants to initially plead not guilty before seeing the evidence.
Prosecutors declined to discuss the details of the accident, noting that they are under an order of silence from retired sixth circuit judge John Brown.
Brown made that order last month at the request of the attorney general, after Noem released videos of investigators questioning Ravnsborg on two different occasions after the accident. The detectives were incredulous that Ravnsborg did not realize that he had hit a man, telling him that Boever’s face broke the windshield and Boever’s glasses were found in his Ford Taurus after the accident.
House legislators moved to start impeachment proceedings against the attorney general last month, but backed down after the judge’s order.
Lawmakers said they would consider whether Ravnsborg should be impeached after the criminal process is completed.