PIERRE, SD (AP) – The Republican Attorney General of South Dakota has been charged with careless driving after hitting and killing a man with his car, authorities reported Thursday.
Jason Ravnsborg also faces charges of operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile electronic device and getting out of his lane, announced Emily Sovell, Hyde County State’s Deputy Attorney. Authorities said he was not on his phone at the time of the crash.
Each charge is punishable by up to 30 days in prison and / or a $ 500 fine, Sovell said.
Sovell said the evidence did not support allegations of more serious crimes, such as vehicular homicide or homicide. He noted that nothing showed that Ravnsborg was intoxicated at the time of the accident. He also said that to prove the murder, the state would have had to prove that Ravnsborg “consciously and unjustifiably” dispensed with a substantial risk.
Ravnsborg has said he is confident he did not commit any crime and did not drink before the accident. He provided a blood sample and handed over his electronic devices to the researchers. A toxicology report from a sample taken about 15 hours after the accident showed no alcohol to the Ravnsborg system.
Boever’s family has questioned Ravnsborg’s story and expressed frustration waiting five months to see if he would face charges.
Beadle County State Attorney Michael Moore, who helped with the case, said the Boever family had been previously informed of the decision.
“Obviously they don’t like our decision in this case, but as we all know, the victims don’t make that decision,” Moore said. Later, pressured by a journalist, Moore added, “I don’t feel well, but it’s the right decision.”
Ravnsborg, who was elected for his first term in 2018, initially told authorities he thought he had hit a deer or other large animal as he headed towards Pierre from a Republican fundraiser in late September 12th. He said he did not realize he had killed a man until the next day he returned to the scene of the accident.
Crash investigators said in November that Ravnsborg was distracted when he veered off the shoulder of the freeway where Joseph Boever, 55, was walking. But prosecutors took more months to make a charge decision in the crash, initiating an investigation that considered the cell phone’s GPS data, Ravnsborg route video footage and DNA tests.
A crash reconstruction expert from Wyoming and the North Dakota Office of Criminal Investigation assisted the South Dakota Highway Patrol in the investigation. These accidents would normally be investigated by the South Dakota Office of Criminal Investigation, which reports to the attorney general’s office. The other agencies undertook the investigation to avoid a conflict of interest.
South Dakota law requires pedestrians to walk next to the road leading to oncoming traffic when walking near roads such as the one that occurred in the crash.
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This story has been corrected to erase a misleading mention that Ravnsborg could face up to a year in prison; The prosecutor said each of the three offenses is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine.