PIERRE, South Dakota – South Dakota’s attorney general’s attorney Jason Ravnsborg filed three counts of guilt Friday afternoon in a Pierre courtroom in connection with the September 2020 accident that leave a dead man. Ravnsborg was not present at Hughes County Court; his attorney, Timothy J. Rensch, of Rapid City, filed the petitions during a brief hearing. Retired Sixth Circuit Judge John L. Brown, who presides, said the case would resume in mid-May and asked attorneys to check their schedules.
Ravnsborg ran over and killed Joe Boever on the shoulder of U.S. Highway 14, just west of Highmore, on Sept. 12. He discovered Boever’s body the next morning on the road and has insisted ever since he didn’t know what hit him. while driving 67 mph. Ravnsborg has been charged with operating a vehicle while using a mobile electronic device, an illegal lane change and careless driving. The maximum penalty for each is 30 days in prison and a $ 500 fine.
“Looks like he’s going to ask for a jury trial,” said Nick Nemec, Boever’s cousin, who attended the brief hearing. “I do not know. It seems that they have died of rights ”. Nemec, who has been the family’s spokesman, said Boever’s widow, Jenny, was present, along with her mother Dorothy Boever and other relatives. Scott Heidepriem, a former state lawmaker and 2010 Democratic candidate for governor, was also present. He is one of two attorneys representing Jenny Boever in a planned civil lawsuit against the attorney general.
Ravnsborg, 44, has declined to resign despite being asked by Governor Kristi Noem and lawmakers.