South Dakota’s top prosecutor will face misdemeanor charges – but avoided counting crimes – for fatally hitting a pedestrian in September, officials said on Thursday.
Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was assaulted with three misdemeanors for operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile device, driving off-road and driving carelessly, Emily Sovell, Hyde County State Attorney, told reporters.
Sovell said there was no evidence that Ravnsborg was impaired and there was insufficient evidence to charge Ravnsborg with a more serious crime, such as vehicular murder or wrongful death, for the death of Joseph Boever, 55.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all, but it does disappoint me,” Boever’s cousin Victor Nemec told NBC News. “This state is known throughout the country for being tolerant when it comes to elected officials who get into trouble.”
Sovell said he protected his office and investigators from political influence and explained that under South Dakota’s strictly defined vehicular homicide statute, the offender would have to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Although the Ravnsborg blood collection took hours, the prosecutor said she was confident that Ravnsborg was unaffected.
“There was a very, very thorough investigation conducted for every step he took in the preceding hours and nothing indicated that he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” she said.
Sovell said that manslaughter would not apply either, because it would require reckless behavior that is “more than just a common negligent standard” and “operating a motor vehicle in violation of a law is not in itself sufficient to constitute the imprudence required. “
Boever, who lived in Highmore, carried a light while walking on the side of U.S. Highway 14 when Ravnsborg fatally hit him with his 2011 Ford Taurus on September 12, according to the accident report released in early November.
The accident report said that Ravnsborg was “distracted” when he drove on a highway shoulder and Boever was not responsible for any “contributing circumstances” in the fatal accident.
Early in the evening, Boever’s truck hit a ditch just off Highway 14 and Nemec took his cousin home. Boever apparently returned to that truck later to pick up something and Nemec said he is not sure why his cousin did not wait until the next morning.
Ravnsborg reported to the Hyde County sheriff’s office that he had hit a deer and Boever’s body was found the next day.
“It was a very dark night, it was in the countryside,” said Sovell. “It is not well lit by artificial means.”
Misdemeanors carry a maximum penalty of 30 days in prison and a $ 500 fine.
While Ravnsborg is accused of being on the phone while driving, prosecutors clarified that phone use came well before the fatal accident – and that his two devices were blocked for at least a minute before the 67 mph impact.
Despite avoiding the most serious criminal charges, Ravnsborg could still be targeted by Boever’s family in a lawsuit.
“This is a tragic accident that took Mr. Boever’s life very early,” Beadle County Attorney Michael Moore. “The victim’s remedy is in the civil court, not the criminal court.”
Ravnsborg’s chief of staff declined to make the prosecutor available for comment on Thursday.
“My heart goes out to Joseph Boever’s family,” Gov. Kristi Noem said in a statement. “I will not comment on the details of Ms. Sovell’s decision. I am instructing the Department of Public Security to share additional details of the investigation with the public next week.”
Suzanne Ciechalski contributed.